New York audit finds LIRR not preparing enough for severe weather events, though railroad says it's assessing its risk
Commuters board the train at the Mineola LIRR station as snow falls on Feb. 13. Credit: Howard Schnapp
The Long Island Rail Road is not doing enough to prepare for severe weather events, and still has not conducted a systemwide weather risk assessment recommended by the MTA 15 years ago, a state audit found.
While accepting some recommendations in the audit by the office of state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the head of the LIRR disputed many of the findings. LIRR acting president Robert Free said a comprehensive risk assessment was underway, and describing it as late was “unjustified.”
The audit looked at the measures taken by the LIRR to combat severe weather from April 2009 through January 2023. Auditors noted a sustainability commission empaneled in September 2009 by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority recommended that the LIRR conduct “a systemwide assessment of its transportation facilities to identify weather-related risks.” Fifteen years later — and more than 11 years after Superstorm Sandy severely damaged LIRR infrastructure — that risk assessment still is incomplete, according to the audit.
“Severe weather is becoming more common and a failure to properly plan and be prepared will cause more commuter headaches like train delays and service disruptions,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “While extreme weather such as blizzards, heavy rain, wind storms or heat waves cannot be prevented, railroad officials need to be prepared to minimize its impacts.”
In his written response, Free said auditors’ suggestion that the risk assessment was delayed was “unjustified,” because they did not establish a date by which it should have been completed.
The “Final Report of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Sustainability and the MTA,” published in 2009, called for the assessment to be done “by 2012 at the latest.”
Auditors said the LIRR told them that assessment would be done by the end of 2023.
Free, in his response, said “a comprehensive, systemwide assessment is underway.” In the meantime, the railroad has “utilized other tools to identify, assess, analyze, and test its weather-related risks.”
In a statement, MTA spokesman Michael Cortez defended the railroad, saying it has “comprehensive preparedness plans in place.”
“The success of those plans are in the results,” Cortez said. “The railroad has experienced multiple weather events in recent months and have navigated the storms with minimal service impacts.”
The audit also chided the LIRR for failing to properly maintain, inspect, test or keep track of equipment used to combat severe weather, including “generators, chainsaws, light towers, and front loaders” that were not where they were supposed to be when auditors visited LIRR facilities. LIRR officials told auditors much of the equipment “was being used in the field,” according to the audit.
Auditors also reviewed four capital projects undertaken by the LIRR to repair damage and improve resiliency following Sandy, and found that two of them were over budget, and “none of them were on time.”
Free disputed the assertions, saying all but one of the projects examined in the audit had been completed on time and on budget. The remaining project, the restoration of the LIRR’s West Side Yard in Manhattan, remains on budget, but is running about three months behind schedule, Free said.
Free did agree with some of the audit's recommendations, including that the railroad should revise and update its winter storm operating procedure.
The Long Island Rail Road is not doing enough to prepare for severe weather events, and still has not conducted a systemwide weather risk assessment recommended by the MTA 15 years ago, a state audit found.
While accepting some recommendations in the audit by the office of state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the head of the LIRR disputed many of the findings. LIRR acting president Robert Free said a comprehensive risk assessment was underway, and describing it as late was “unjustified.”
The audit looked at the measures taken by the LIRR to combat severe weather from April 2009 through January 2023. Auditors noted a sustainability commission empaneled in September 2009 by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority recommended that the LIRR conduct “a systemwide assessment of its transportation facilities to identify weather-related risks.” Fifteen years later — and more than 11 years after Superstorm Sandy severely damaged LIRR infrastructure — that risk assessment still is incomplete, according to the audit.
“Severe weather is becoming more common and a failure to properly plan and be prepared will cause more commuter headaches like train delays and service disruptions,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “While extreme weather such as blizzards, heavy rain, wind storms or heat waves cannot be prevented, railroad officials need to be prepared to minimize its impacts.”
In his written response, Free said auditors’ suggestion that the risk assessment was delayed was “unjustified,” because they did not establish a date by which it should have been completed.
The “Final Report of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Sustainability and the MTA,” published in 2009, called for the assessment to be done “by 2012 at the latest.”
Auditors said the LIRR told them that assessment would be done by the end of 2023.
Free, in his response, said “a comprehensive, systemwide assessment is underway.” In the meantime, the railroad has “utilized other tools to identify, assess, analyze, and test its weather-related risks.”
In a statement, MTA spokesman Michael Cortez defended the railroad, saying it has “comprehensive preparedness plans in place.”
“The success of those plans are in the results,” Cortez said. “The railroad has experienced multiple weather events in recent months and have navigated the storms with minimal service impacts.”
The audit also chided the LIRR for failing to properly maintain, inspect, test or keep track of equipment used to combat severe weather, including “generators, chainsaws, light towers, and front loaders” that were not where they were supposed to be when auditors visited LIRR facilities. LIRR officials told auditors much of the equipment “was being used in the field,” according to the audit.
Auditors also reviewed four capital projects undertaken by the LIRR to repair damage and improve resiliency following Sandy, and found that two of them were over budget, and “none of them were on time.”
Free disputed the assertions, saying all but one of the projects examined in the audit had been completed on time and on budget. The remaining project, the restoration of the LIRR’s West Side Yard in Manhattan, remains on budget, but is running about three months behind schedule, Free said.
Free did agree with some of the audit's recommendations, including that the railroad should revise and update its winter storm operating procedure.
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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