Gov. Hochul expands Brooklyn LIRR service after delays, complaints

March 8, 2023 Daniel Cody

The track platforms at the Long Island Rail Road’s Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn. Wikipedia photo by Pacific Coast Highway

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After a swarm of complaints from Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) commuters about agonizing scheduling delays and mishaps at platforms, Gov. Kathy Hochul has expanded rush hour service.

The MTA will lengthen 17 trains to address crowding at Penn Station-bound platforms, with additional service to Brooklyn: one additional trainset to operate between Jamaica and Atlantic Terminal that began service Monday and a second that went into effect Tuesday.

Commuters that utilize the Atlantic Branch of the LIRR, which extends from Atlantic Terminal to Valley Stream via Jamaica, reported earlier this week that on eastbound trains were very delayed, with wait times ranging between 20 and 30 minutes. Customers often missed their transfer at connecting stations, particularly for Brooklyn-bound trains at Jamaica to Atlantic Avenue.

The delays have been accredited to the new LIRR schedule which was changed to accommodate the new Grand Central Madison hub, reports the New York Post. The new schemata greatly decreased Long Island trains scheduled for Atlantic Terminal, putting pressure on the shuttles between Jamaica and Atlantic Avenue. The MTA allegedly overestimated how many commuters would need access to Grand Central Terminal, displacing service elsewhere.

“We got over 30 guys out here in vests this morning pointing people to the right train. All because they overestimated how many people wanted or needed Grand Central,” an MTA employee at the Atlantic Avenue Jamaica station platform said Monday, according to the Post.

“Not hard to prove, the cars are empty. Grand Central and Penn are blocks apart. Brooklyn is its own economy! Brooklyn needs its own service,” the employee also added.

Downtown Brooklyn and DUMBO are popular among commuters not only for the various businesses and government offices, but also because of its proximity to lower Manhattan via subway.

To help with the transfer and departure conflicts, the MTA will install a platform controller at Jamaica Station, who will announce when Atlantic Avenue trains arrive and provide information to commuters on Tracks 11 and 12, where Brooklyn trains depart.

The LIRR’s Atlantic Terminal, across from Barclays Center in Downtown Brooklyn. Wikipedia photo by Ajay Suresh

The platform controllers will also determine when trains leave the station, keeping them until the arrival of the second train on the opposite track, ensuring that transfers can be made. Along with the additional trainsets, the MTA and the state hope to reduce departure wait times at Brooklyn stations and transfers to be as low as nine minutes.

“These changes are intended to ensure that during rush hours, the platform at Jamaica serving Brooklyn trains will have a train waiting at the platform with doors open and will not depart until a second train has arrived on the opposite track. During the afternoon/evening rush, a similar system will be in place at Atlantic Terminal,” the MTA said in a press statement.