After rider feedback, LIRR restoring stops, offering more express service, rerouting at Penn Station

Long Island Rail Road schedule changes taking effect Tuesday aim to correct some of the problems created by the opening of Grand Central Madison earlier this year, railroad officials said.

But some riders said the changes — which include more direct trains to Brooklyn, more express trains on several branches, and more evening trains out of Penn Station — don’t go far enough to undo the damage caused by the alteration of the LIRR’s service that started in March.

The newest changes come after LIRR officials gathered feedback from riders for months about its schedules, which were overhauled when the railroad began serving an additional Manhattan terminal, Grand Central Madison. Commuters railed about longer trips, inconvenient travel times, and the reduction of service at Penn Station, which is still carrying significantly more riders than Grand Central.

The LIRR already has made various tweaks to its schedule to address some of the complaints, but promised a major revision would come after Labor Day.

“Our September schedule is based on ridership data, real-time observations and input from customers, building upon the earlier schedule adjustments and responding to many of the concerns that we have been hearing consistently from our customers,” LIRR interim president Catherine Rinaldi said in a statement. “ … We will keep monitoring the data to identify future improvements  where possible.”

Among the changes: more morning express trains to Jamaica from Hicksville; the restoration of some Brooklyn trains on the Far Rockaway, Long Beach, Hempstead and Port Jefferson branches; and several current Grand Central trains being rerouted to Penn Station, including to serve riders leaving Madison Square Garden on event nights.

Full schedule information is available at new.mta.info/schedules, and on the MTA’s TrainTime app.

Timed transfers still missing

Gerard Bringmann, chairman of the LIRR Commuter Council and a nonvoting member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board, said while the changes are “an improvement,” they don’t address some of the most persistent problems that arose from the Grand Central Madison schedules, including the elimination of timed transfers. He also pointed out that adding express service means taking service away from commuters who use local stops.

But Bringmann believes LIRR planners are “doing the best they can” with limited resources, including an insufficient number of trains.

“Hopefully, this isn’t as good as it gets,” Bringmann said. “Hopefully, there’s still room for more improvements.”

Schoolteacher Paulette Guiogou-McLean said she was “very happy” to learn that she’d be getting back direct morning trains to Atlantic Terminal from her home station of Valley Stream, but was disappointed that she’ll continue to have to transfer from a shuttle train at Jamaica during her return trip.

“There is no one-seat trip back. … There are a lot more trains leaving from Atlantic Avenue, only to dump you out at Jamaica, waiting for trains that come when they come,” said Guiogou-McLean, who has been commuting on the LIRR for 25 years. “There seems to be no concern with getting us home with the same degree of punctuality, reliability, and, dare I say, comfort.”

NICE Bus changes

Nassau’s NICE Bus also has made several schedule changes. The changes, which started Sunday, include the introduction of a new “n20Xpress” route providing express service between Roslyn and Flushing, Queens, along Northern Boulevard. There also will be more frequent service on several lines, including the n16X route, which runs between Nassau Community College and the Rosa Parks Hempstead Transit Center in Hempstead.

NICE Bus CEO Jack Khzouz said the changes come after monitoring ridership and travel patterns. “We are responding with changes that will enable smoother connections and greater convenience,” Khzouz said.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

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.