I’m confident, however, that the MTA leadership is aware of this issue and will be addressing it.”įor weeks, the ideal stage had been set for the full launch of Grand Central Madison, finally connecting the Long Island Rail Road to the bedrock of Midtown Manhattan. The result is there is less availability for Oyster Bay commuters to travel than there was before, and riders are not pleased - nor should they be pleased. We do not have express trains running directly into Penn Station as we had in the past before the new train schedules. The biggest challenge is that the OB line runs on diesel-powered trains that need to stop at Mineola where there is a transfer for riders to get on electric trains to go into the city.

With the advent of East Side Access, the MTA has had to reroute and reprogram any number of trains from the Oyster Bay line. “We have all known for years that the Oyster Bay line is the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s biggest loss leader. We decided to hand out voluntary surveys to commuters about the issue.” Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick and myself were informed that the Long Island Rail Road would re-evaluate scheduling times for the West Hempstead line if data was provided regarding commuters’ preferred changes. “Clearly the opening of Grand Central Madison is a benefit, but my office has received numerous complaints regarding schedule changes, specifically additional travel time for our commuters on the West Hempstead line where riders at Malverne and Westwood now experience an approximate hour gap in travel times from the old schedule.

Mta lirr train schedule