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A new Long Island Rail Road initiative aims to give riders with disabilities a helping hand getting on and off trains.

LIRR President Phillip Eng on Monday announced the launch of “LIRR Care”—a 24-hour, 365-day-a-year hotline that customers with mobility issues can call to arrange for assistance during their trips. The number is 718-LIRR-CARE, or 718-547-7227.

The LIRR already had a service that allowed disabled customers to call ahead, but it was available from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and required at least three hours advanced notice. The new program requires two hours advance notice assistance at most stations. And riders needing assistance at the LIRR’s major New York City stations — Jamaica, Atlantic Terminal and Penn Station — need only to arrive 15 minutes early to notify customer service personnel.

“They’ll coordinate with our train crews for station-to-station service. They’ll escort a passenger to an elevator, if necessary, and to track level, where they’ll be met by a conductor . . . who will assist with a bridge plate to help them onto the train,” Eng said at a Manhattan meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s LIRR Committee. “It’s something that we’ve been working on, and I’m pleased to be able to provide this today.”

The announcement comes a month after a group of disabled riders filed a federal lawsuit against the LIRR, accusing the railroad of discrimination for not doing enough to make its system accessible. 

Among the suit’s claims is that LIRR conductors consistently fail to deploy metal bridge plates to help mobility-impaired users navigate the gap between trains and station platforms.

One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Gina Barbara, of Wantagh, on Monday said the hotline plan doesn’t go far enough, and still amounts to discrimination against disabled riders.

“Nobody else has to call before they board a vehicle,” said Barbara, who called for conductors to be available at all stations to assist mobility-impaired passengers. “In my opinion, it’s not a solution. It’s more of a hindrance for us.”

In a statement, state Sen. John Brooks (D-Seaford) said he was optimistic about Eng's efforts to improve accessibility on the railroad, but called the new program "just a first step to truly bringing relief to our disabled communities."

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