Just before 4 a.m., a LIRR Amtrak worker was hit by a train near the Hunterspoint Avenue station. According to WCBS 2, the worker was taken to Elmhurst Hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. more ›

The woman seen in a MTA surveillance video being beaten and apparently abducted at a Long Island Rail Road station has come forward to tell the MTA that she's "safe." more ›

Last night around 11:15 p.m., a freight train running on LIRR tracks derailed near Wyandanch, forcing the MTA to suspend service along the Ronkonkoma Branch while they cleared the train. Luckily, it looks like the morning commute is running smoothly. more ›

We have nothing but respect for anyone who has to commute via the Long Island Rail Road in the wee hours of the morning. We may think of the LIRR primarily as the domain of pants-tearing seats, effervescent revelers and boozy belligerents, but those crowds don't usually mix with pre-dawn workers...except when they do. In the video below, a group serenades their LIRR car with an enthusiastic rallying song at 6 a.m. It may sound terribly shrill and inconsiderate to us, but maybe you'll find their whooping charming. We'd wager that the man trying to sleep two seats behind them is wishing he had snuck into one of the new quiet cars. more ›

The Long Island Rail Road, home of pants-tearing seats as well as some enthusiastic partiers, has started a pilot program for quiet cars today. Due to customer demand, the last car of the four AM peak trains and the first car of the six PM peak trains are designated quiet cars. LIRR President Helena Williams said, "As more and more electronic devices enter our lives - smart phones, cell phones, DVD and music players, tablets - many of our customers have asked for some relief from the noise they can create during their commute to and from work and other activities. This pilot is meant to respond to customers who seek quiet during their travels on the LIRR and is part of our overall effort to improve customer service." more ›

Sometimes you really have to go, even if you're being charged with commiting disability pension fraud. Prosecutors said that one of the defendants in the billion-dollar LIRR disability pension scam, Maria Rusin, purposefully urinated on herself because she didn't want to face charges. The Post reports that Assistant US Attorney Justin Weddle said that Rusin “slumped over and did other things to make it appear she needed medical attention" on Thursday. Oh, and the Post wants us to know that federal courtroom chair still had signs of her "bladder bumble." more ›

While announcing that eleven people were charged in a billion-dollar Long Island Rail Road disability pension scheme, the federal authorities said that this was just the beginning. According to Newsday, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara "said his office would explore civil cases to recover money, as well as new criminal cases, and FBI Criminal Division of New York special agent Diego Rodriguez urged people who had been part of the fraud to come forward -- but declined to promise leniency": "Who has better information about this scheme...than those who perpetrated it? We look forward to hearing from you. For those who choose not to contact us, there's a good chance we'll be contacting you." more ›

Three years after the NY Times reported on rampant disability fraud among Long Island Rail Road employees, the federal authorities have arrested ten people for their roles in perpetrating the billion-dollar scam. According to the Times, "Most of the people — those charged in the case include seven former railroad workers accused of making false pension claims, the two doctors and a former federal railroad pension agency employee who helped the workers file the claims — were taken into custody in the early morning hours at their homes by F.B.I. agents and state investigators, the people said." more ›

Yesterday afternoon, lightning hit Long Island Rail Road operations near Jamaica, causing a signal problem that then cascaded into service suspensions across LIRR as well as a temporary closure of Penn Station due to crowding. Service eventually came back later in the evening... only for it to be suspended again. However, today, the MTA believes that the LIRR morning commute—after crews worked all night to restore service— will "operate near-normal morning rush hour service... However, customers are advised that there will be some canceled trains and some delays." more ›

Yesterday's hail storm brought huge icy chunks into Queens and Long Island, hitting homes and cars. One reader sent us a photograph of the damage to her car, "Giant hail cracked through car windshields. Here, two holes were left when baseball-sized hail went right through the rear windshield." more ›

The MTA wants everyone to "See Something, Say Something" forever, and people are doing just that. Last night, Long Island Rail Road service between Huntington and Hicksville on the Port Jefferson line was suspended, thanks to some white coolers. more ›

The work to repair a track in a tunnel shared by Amtrak and the Long Island Rail Road is going to take longer than expected, which means the LIRR will have service disruptions through Friday. For today's service, 22 trains were canceled or diverted, and the transit agency had been hoping that would be it, LIRR president Helena Williams said, "I am disappointed that Amtrak was not able to complete their repair work in time to meet the goal of returning to normal service by Thursday." more ›

The LIRR service disruptions, which were caused by an Amtrak train derailment in an East River tunnel on Sunday, are continuing this morning, and the MTA says get used to it. Rush hour service is expected to be affected through "at least" Wednesday. This morning the MTA reduced the number of trains that it normally operates into Penn Station during the morning rush by 25 percent: a total of 22 of the 98 trains are be canceled, terminated or diverted this morning, and you can expect the same for the evening rush. On the bright side, at least everybody's keeping this situation in perspective on Twitter: more ›

After an Amtrak train derailed in an East River tunnel yesterday, the Long Island Railroad is experiencing heavy delays and a "significantly reduced" schedule this morning. 23 westbound trains are cancelled, diverted, or terminating at Jamaica Station, where passengers can transfer to the subway into Manhattan. According to the MTA, about a quarter of the trains that the LIRR normally operates into Penn Station during the morning rush will be affected. Officials expect more cancellations and delays for tonight's p.m. rush as well! Let's turn to Twitter to see how people are coping: more ›

Awwww—this yellow lab and pit bull mix was found on a Long Island Rail Road train car on Tuesday, and now the search is on for his owner! According to NBC New York, he "boarded an LIRR train in Wyandanch earlier this week. Train operators found him stowed away at the Farmingdale Railroad Station... Police think the dog got scared during the severe weather Tuesday night and bolted towards the open door. " more ›

We hadn't held out much hope for commuters stuck using the Long Island Railroad in the middle of a snow storm this winter, and figured everyone should just prepare themselves for those terrifying hours in limbo with some of that fine bar car booze. That was until we got a gander at the LIRR's insanely decked-out snow-fighting fleet. These oversized mechanical snow blowers look like extras from Transformers, but less racist. They include a rail-bound hot air jet that reaches 700 degrees Fahrenheit, and which kind of looks like a hairdryer for a giant. Not that everyone is convinced by the gadgetry—on reddit, user sergestorms wrote: more ›

A lesbian locomotive engineer is suing the Long Island Railroad for millions, accusing superiors of punishing her more harshly than her co-workers because she's gay and Asian-American. Melissa Stampf, 43, was accused of grabbing a fellow engineer's breast in a parking lot at the West Side rail yards. Stampf had been friends with her accuser, Angela Trigg, leading up the incident, and even shared a locker with her, the Daily News reports. But that collegiality ended one day in June 2006, when Stampf spotted Trigg sitting in her car and went over to say hello. more ›

Of the many great pleasures included with the purchase of your fancy Long Island Railroad ticket, one of the most sublime is the freedom to consume alcoholic beverages on the ride out to Strong Island. But that freedom is snuffed out today by the MTA, which has quietly announced that no open alcoholic beverage containers will be permitted during your Thanksgiving commute tonight. Apparently, the MTA thinks you've had enough and you're cut off until 5 a.m. tomorrow. And if you think you can get around this by pounding Jäger shots on the platform, think again. more ›

This weekend, the MTA is embarking on its "LIRR Modernization Project Brings State of the Art Technology to Centralized Signaling and Switch Control at Jamaica," which means there will be very limited service between Jamaica and Penn Station this weekend and the weekend of November 6-7. The MTA recommends, "As a result of the extremely limited service, the LIRR recommends that customers use the LIRR for essential business travel only during these two weekends. Customers traveling for recreational purposes during this period should consider travel on the Port Washington Branch or other travel alternatives." Or, as the Post puts it, "It's the LIRR-arrrgh!" (LOL) more ›

This video of some thugs beating a man outside of the Valley Stream LIRR station Monday night looks pretty brutal, but fortunately the victim sustained only bruises. Police have already arrested two suspects, and Newsday reports (paywall) that the video, taken by a cabdriver, was "instrumental" in the arrests. more ›