Tuesday, October 02, 2007

On the wrong track - the Long Island Railroad

My son now has a job as a librarian in Queens, so he needs to take the LIRR to Jamaica every day until we get him his own apartment. Since he is mobility-impaired with cerebral palsy, he needs to take the last car so he can go right to the street and catch a bus. Yesterday, the last car was much further up the track, so he had to run. He shouted for someone to hold the door open because, sure enough, they were trying to leave without him. Some good Samaritan waiting for another train did that. When he complained to the conductor, the man just laughed and said "Well, I guess you made it."

I've been on all of the suburban train systems and the LIRR is, hands down, the worst. Filthy cars, delays, surly conductors, broken elevators - you name it. Now they are going to go through their annual ritual - raising the price of tickets and cutting service. The only cure for this system might be competition, but there is no hope for that. Suck it up, Long Island.

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