LIRR Riders More Boozy Than Wine-Swilling Metro-North Crowd

Via Barcar.com

In case you missed this interesting little article, the Times crunched the numbers on beverage sales along the Long Island Railroad and Metro-North lines, comparing the drinking preferences between the two groups of commuters. The takeaway: Long Islanders buy way more booze than the Metro-North crowd, who consume wine at nearly twice the rate as LIRR riders.

Spirits account for nearly 1 in 3 beverage purchases on the LIRR, compared with 1 in 10 on Metro-North. Passengers on both railroads bought nearly three million drinks and snacks from commissary carts and bar cars, generating $9 million in revenue. "They are a very loyal patronage," says Tom Celli, who has managed the Metro-North commissary for 25 years. "I have the same people day in and day out."

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By John Del Signore in Food on September 27, 2010 5:15 PM

Comments [rss]

nycnewsjunkie

They should be giving away free "drinks" with all the delays and service cuts to the LIRR and MNRR.

Delays and cancellations are 10x worse on commuter rail then subways. At least in most areas served by subways there's other options: express buses, local buses, ferries, taxis, dollar vans, car service and walking.

Bottoms up!!!

unretrofiedforu

No surprise here either with your comment; snickerdoodle = piece of shit

:)

Kevin Walsh

There's just more time to drink with late trains and drastically reduced service.

www.forgotten-ny.com

nicemarmot

I'm more surprised that the Metro North even charts. It's been a long time since I've been on a train with a bar car or seen a beer vendor on the platform like I see all the time on the LIRR.

NYCynic

No surprise. Take the Main Branch late at night on any weekend.

lizzie d

Dear god, please don't make me take a train out to/from long island during the weekend. Those long island brats are the WORST, bro!!! I wish the conductors would really crack down on them or at least take away their beer... I can't count how many times i've been stuck in the puke car after... gross

snickerdoodle

No surprise. Long Islanders = low class illegal immigrant pigs. Metro North = rich, classy white people.

:)

nycnewsjunkie

HAHAHA...have you driven around some areas in Westchester and Rockland counties?!?

Nassau and Suffolk counties have "rich" communities right next to "poor" communities, just like upstate counties and Ct.

Stevennnn

For one Rockland/Westcheser is not "upstate" nor is the other counties in Metro-North service territory.

The demographics are obviously different from Long Island to the Hudson Valley. You just have to see the commuters who use the LIRR compared to Metro-North.

nycnewsjunkie

I do see the commuters. I frequently ride both the LIRR (Babylon and Port Washington branches) and MNRR (Hudson line).

Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland and Orange counties only comprise of >10% of the MNRR ridership. I read somewhere, that almost all of dutchess county residents have never or almost never used MNRR. New haven line is another 26% of total ridership, so roughly 64% of MNRR come from WESTCHESTER!!!