LIRR to add fewer trains than Metro-North

The Long Island Rail Road is getting $2.2 million more from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority than Metro-North Railroad to beef up service, but will add less than half as many trains as its sister railroad, according to MTA figures.

Last month, the MTA announced it would make $29.5 million in "service investments" throughout all its agencies with the goal of restoring some of the deep service cuts made during its 2010 budget crunch, and also to address increasing demand in some areas.

Under the plan, the LIRR received $6.9 million, and Metro-North, which saw fewer service cuts in 2010, got $4.7 million. However, Metro-North plans to add 230 trains to its schedule with the funding, as compared with 112 by the LIRR.

Some of the new LIRR trains will begin running in November, but most will be added in March.

MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg said that there were several reasons why Metro-North's new funding will go so much further, including differences in train equipment, labor and maintenance costs and union rules between the two railroads.

But, Lisberg said, the key reason is that many of Metro-North's new trains will largely pay for themselves, whereas the added LIRR trains are expected to lose money.

"You have some routes on Metro-North that we expect will generate lots of new revenue by inducing some people to ride trains that otherwise would not," Lisberg said. "Many of Long Island's investment, by contrast, are to provide greater convenience to existing customers. So they're generating more costs without additional revenue."

SEE PHOTOSLIRR trains and commuters through the years

Most of the added Metro-North trains are not restoration of past service cuts, but rather expansions of service to meet increased demand, mostly during off-peak hours and on weekends.

Most of the 112 planned new LIRR trains aim to put back service that was removed in 2010 because of low ridership, including overnight Brooklyn service and morning trains on the Long Beach, Port Jefferson and Montauk lines.

LIRR Commuter Council chairman Mark Epstein said that while he appreciated the LIRR offering more options for its existing customers, it also needs to tap into potential new riders, just as Metro-North is doing.

As an example, he said the LIRR should look at expanding weekend service to Greenport to better take advantage of the vineyard-touring scene.

"I think they do have to look out for their riders, but additionally, they have to have a plan for how they're going to increase ridership," Epstein said. "There has to be a general picture of increasing ridership, not just getting back to the levels that we were at before."

Jim Cameron, chairman of the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council, applauded Metro-North's use of its new funding to attract weekend customers, which he said helped push Metro-North's ridership ahead of the LIRR's in 2011.

"We've got the [train] cars. Why not add the service, especially if it's going to pay for itself?" Cameron said.