LIRR aims to improve on-time performance at Jamaica, where persistent delays upend commutes
Since the Long Island Rail Road eliminated scheduled connections at Jamaica last year, Elizabeth Ames' commute home to Glen Cove has been a gamble. On more than one occasion, it has cost her.
"I had two incidents within a space of a week ... where I ended up having to pay $50 to get home," Ames said.
When her eastbound train has arrived late at Jamaica — causing her to miss a connection — she's opted to ride to Mineola and then take a ride-hailing service rather than wait an hour or more for the next train.
To Ames, the system "has no logic whatsoever." But her experience illustrates one of the most persistent complaints about the LIRR since it overhauled its service plan with the addition of a new Manhattan terminal, Grand Central Madison, in February 2023.
Where trains previously waited for scheduled connections, they now leave when they're ready, a necessity, the railroad said, because of the additional service. The change has helped some trains stay on schedule, even if it has meant extending the journeys of riders unable to transfer onto them because their train ran late getting to Jamaica.
Statistics recently released by the LIRR highlight the apparent divide between the railroad's system of measuring punctuality and the experiences of some riders.
The LIRR says only around 4% of trains run late when considering a train is on time if it arrives less than six minutes after its scheduled time at its final destination. But at Jamaica — the LIRR's busiest junction — more than 40% of rush-hour trains arrive three minutes or more late, resulting in missed transfers and delays of up to an hour or more for some commuters.
Last year, about 55 million riders traveled through Jamaica, a transfer point for trains on all but one of the LIRR's branches, Port Washington.
To help ensure more riders make their connections, the LIRR's president is pushing for a new kind of change at Jamaica. The enhancements include increased personnel and police at Jamaica to help minimize delays, more digital signs to keep riders informed, and new routing and scheduling strategies to reduce the need for transfers and give riders who do have to change at Jamaica more time to do so. Some of the changes will be reflected in new LIRR schedules taking effect Tuesday.
Even while praising the planned improvements, some critics said the changes are evidence that the railroad’s usual system of measuring on-time performance is deeply flawed, if not deceptive. At 95.7%, the LIRR’s on-time performance through the first half of 2024 is among the highest in its history, and 1.3 percentage points better than during the same period last year.
"That’s fantasy," said Peter Haynes, of Bayport, an LIRR riders advocate who long has taken the railroad to task for how it measures its on-time performance. "It's a matter of doing it sort of ethically or not. ... They can make a number come up if they want to, or they can do it for real and try to find out where some problems are and then subsequently fix them."
The LIRR's usual system of measuring punctuality doesn’t tell the full story of its reliability, as the railroad considers a train to be on time as long as it arrives within 5 minutes and 59 seconds of its scheduled time at its final destination. That means a train can be late at every stop along the way and still be considered punctual.
LIRR president Robert Free said the railroad follows "the industry standard" in how it measures timeliness. Other major commuter railroads, including those in New Jersey, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago, use a similar system.
At the center of Free’s initiative is the unprecedented decision to measure and report the railroad’s on-time performance at Jamaica. Free noted his plan has received some pushback from LIRR staffers, because of the complexity of syncing trains from 10 branches at one midpoint and the impact any changes might have on the rest of the system.
"You can have one train change its time by a minute and, because of our connectivity, it impacts the overall operation," Free said in an Aug. 22 interview at Jamaica. "We really have to dissect the operation and look at the schedules and ensure we don’t create a bigger problem. I always say our system is like a sweater. You pull a thread and it can all come undone."
Reporting on Jamaica stats for the first time — and using a stricter standard of within three minutes of its scheduled time — Free revealed at a July 29 meeting that only 55.9% of trains arrive on time at the Southeast Queens transit hub during the morning peak period and 59.9% during the evening peak.
Running even a couple minutes late at Jamaica can result in passengers being unable to transfer to a connecting train headed to their destination. While another westbound train to the same destination is typically only a few minutes away, waits can be an hour or more for certain eastern destinations.
"It’s happened a couple of times where I get to the station, but the train I was supposed to transfer to is already gone, so I have to get an Uber just to make it back on time," said Derrick Messavussu, 20, who lives in the Bronx and commutes to Stony Brook University on the LIRR. "For the train not to come on time, and for you to pay the consequences of that, is unfair."
In the LIRR's most recent customer survey, released in July, the railroad acknowledged the transfer experience was a "top driver" in satisfaction. Among riders who said they "always" transfer, 55% said they were satisfied with LIRR service, compared with 78% of riders who never transfer.
Ames said it is "encouraging" to see the railroad pay attention to its timeliness at Jamaica. She's already noticed extra police presence to more quickly address incidents that can cause delays, such as fare evaders, and has benefited from scheduling tweaks made since the opening of Grand Central Madison.
"The bottom line is that there’s definitely been improved reliability at night," she said. "Also, we’re not running up and down steps to different platforms in the morning as often."
Free said the railroad’s overall recent on-time performance, which has surpassed its 94% goal — is evidence of several service investments paying off, including the construction of a third track between Floral Park and Hicksville, boosting capacity by 50%.
Haynes, founder of the LIRR Commuters Campaign and a former LIRR systems project specialist, said the on-time figures may have benefited from trains no longer waiting on connections.
Also pumping up the LIRR’s stats, Haynes said, is the railroad’s practice of building in more time than needed for trains to traverse the last few stops of a journey — allowing them to make up for delays earlier in the trip.
Free acknowledged while LIRR schedules allot sufficient time for a train to complete its entire trip, "In some cases, it might not be where it’s needed, meaning a train may arrive at Jamaica a little bit late, but can make up the time at the other end."
The schedule changes starting Tuesday aim to "reallocate" any extra time for trains to get to Jamaica closer to schedule, said Free, who wants to boost rush-hour on-time performance at Jamaica to at least 70%.
"I do think it's a step forward, maybe not a major step, but a step nonetheless. So they deserve some credit," said Haynes, who has pushed the railroad to adopt a system of measuring delays that more closely reflect riders’ actual experiences. "They pad the schedule way too much to get a good number. The 55% and 59% numbers [at Jamaica], I think, are much more realistic."
The schedule changes also will have some trains currently bound for Grand Central instead go to Penn Station — the destination of about three-quarters of off-peak travelers. Rerouting the trains will minimize the need for transfers and the delays that come with them, Free said.
Since the Long Island Rail Road eliminated scheduled connections at Jamaica last year, Elizabeth Ames' commute home to Glen Cove has been a gamble. On more than one occasion, it has cost her.
"I had two incidents within a space of a week ... where I ended up having to pay $50 to get home," Ames said.
When her eastbound train has arrived late at Jamaica — causing her to miss a connection — she's opted to ride to Mineola and then take a ride-hailing service rather than wait an hour or more for the next train.
To Ames, the system "has no logic whatsoever." But her experience illustrates one of the most persistent complaints about the LIRR since it overhauled its service plan with the addition of a new Manhattan terminal, Grand Central Madison, in February 2023.
WHAT TO KNOW
The Long Island Rail Road is launching an initiative aimed at improving on-time performance at Jamaica Station, including by adding personnel, installing new information signs and making some scheduling changes.
Although the LIRR says, overall, nearly 96% of all its trains run on time at Jamaica, fewer than 60% arrive when they're supposed to during the rush hours. The LIRR wants to get that up to 70%.
- Punctuality is especially important at Jamaica, because a train running even a few minutes late can cause passengers to miss connections and have to wait a long time for the next train.
Where trains previously waited for scheduled connections, they now leave when they're ready, a necessity, the railroad said, because of the additional service. The change has helped some trains stay on schedule, even if it has meant extending the journeys of riders unable to transfer onto them because their train ran late getting to Jamaica.
Statistics recently released by the LIRR highlight the apparent divide between the railroad's system of measuring punctuality and the experiences of some riders.
The LIRR says only around 4% of trains run late when considering a train is on time if it arrives less than six minutes after its scheduled time at its final destination. But at Jamaica — the LIRR's busiest junction — more than 40% of rush-hour trains arrive three minutes or more late, resulting in missed transfers and delays of up to an hour or more for some commuters.
Last year, about 55 million riders traveled through Jamaica, a transfer point for trains on all but one of the LIRR's branches, Port Washington.
To help ensure more riders make their connections, the LIRR's president is pushing for a new kind of change at Jamaica. The enhancements include increased personnel and police at Jamaica to help minimize delays, more digital signs to keep riders informed, and new routing and scheduling strategies to reduce the need for transfers and give riders who do have to change at Jamaica more time to do so. Some of the changes will be reflected in new LIRR schedules taking effect Tuesday.
Critics call measurement flawed
Even while praising the planned improvements, some critics said the changes are evidence that the railroad’s usual system of measuring on-time performance is deeply flawed, if not deceptive. At 95.7%, the LIRR’s on-time performance through the first half of 2024 is among the highest in its history, and 1.3 percentage points better than during the same period last year.
"That’s fantasy," said Peter Haynes, of Bayport, an LIRR riders advocate who long has taken the railroad to task for how it measures its on-time performance. "It's a matter of doing it sort of ethically or not. ... They can make a number come up if they want to, or they can do it for real and try to find out where some problems are and then subsequently fix them."
The LIRR's usual system of measuring punctuality doesn’t tell the full story of its reliability, as the railroad considers a train to be on time as long as it arrives within 5 minutes and 59 seconds of its scheduled time at its final destination. That means a train can be late at every stop along the way and still be considered punctual.
LIRR president Robert Free said the railroad follows "the industry standard" in how it measures timeliness. Other major commuter railroads, including those in New Jersey, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago, use a similar system.
First Jamaica performance stats
At the center of Free’s initiative is the unprecedented decision to measure and report the railroad’s on-time performance at Jamaica. Free noted his plan has received some pushback from LIRR staffers, because of the complexity of syncing trains from 10 branches at one midpoint and the impact any changes might have on the rest of the system.
"You can have one train change its time by a minute and, because of our connectivity, it impacts the overall operation," Free said in an Aug. 22 interview at Jamaica. "We really have to dissect the operation and look at the schedules and ensure we don’t create a bigger problem. I always say our system is like a sweater. You pull a thread and it can all come undone."
Running even a couple minutes late at Jamaica can result in passengers being unable to transfer to a connecting train. Waits can be an hour or more for certain eastern destinations. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Reporting on Jamaica stats for the first time — and using a stricter standard of within three minutes of its scheduled time — Free revealed at a July 29 meeting that only 55.9% of trains arrive on time at the Southeast Queens transit hub during the morning peak period and 59.9% during the evening peak.
Running even a couple minutes late at Jamaica can result in passengers being unable to transfer to a connecting train headed to their destination. While another westbound train to the same destination is typically only a few minutes away, waits can be an hour or more for certain eastern destinations.
"It’s happened a couple of times where I get to the station, but the train I was supposed to transfer to is already gone, so I have to get an Uber just to make it back on time," said Derrick Messavussu, 20, who lives in the Bronx and commutes to Stony Brook University on the LIRR. "For the train not to come on time, and for you to pay the consequences of that, is unfair."
In the LIRR's most recent customer survey, released in July, the railroad acknowledged the transfer experience was a "top driver" in satisfaction. Among riders who said they "always" transfer, 55% said they were satisfied with LIRR service, compared with 78% of riders who never transfer.
Ames said it is "encouraging" to see the railroad pay attention to its timeliness at Jamaica. She's already noticed extra police presence to more quickly address incidents that can cause delays, such as fare evaders, and has benefited from scheduling tweaks made since the opening of Grand Central Madison.
"The bottom line is that there’s definitely been improved reliability at night," she said. "Also, we’re not running up and down steps to different platforms in the morning as often."
Free said the railroad’s overall recent on-time performance, which has surpassed its 94% goal — is evidence of several service investments paying off, including the construction of a third track between Floral Park and Hicksville, boosting capacity by 50%.
LIRR builds in time
Haynes, founder of the LIRR Commuters Campaign and a former LIRR systems project specialist, said the on-time figures may have benefited from trains no longer waiting on connections.
Also pumping up the LIRR’s stats, Haynes said, is the railroad’s practice of building in more time than needed for trains to traverse the last few stops of a journey — allowing them to make up for delays earlier in the trip.
Free acknowledged while LIRR schedules allot sufficient time for a train to complete its entire trip, "In some cases, it might not be where it’s needed, meaning a train may arrive at Jamaica a little bit late, but can make up the time at the other end."
The schedule changes starting Tuesday aim to "reallocate" any extra time for trains to get to Jamaica closer to schedule, said Free, who wants to boost rush-hour on-time performance at Jamaica to at least 70%.
"I do think it's a step forward, maybe not a major step, but a step nonetheless. So they deserve some credit," said Haynes, who has pushed the railroad to adopt a system of measuring delays that more closely reflect riders’ actual experiences. "They pad the schedule way too much to get a good number. The 55% and 59% numbers [at Jamaica], I think, are much more realistic."
The schedule changes also will have some trains currently bound for Grand Central instead go to Penn Station — the destination of about three-quarters of off-peak travelers. Rerouting the trains will minimize the need for transfers and the delays that come with them, Free said.
Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.
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Newsday Live Music Series: Long Island Idols Newsday Live presents a special evening of music and conversation with local singers who grabbed the national spotlight on shows like "The Voice," "America's Got Talent,""The X-Factor" and "American Idol." Newsday Senior Lifestyle Host Elisa DiStefano leads a discussion and audience Q&A as the singers discuss their TV experiences, careers and perform original songs.
