By Ryan Schwach<\/p>\n
Long Island Rail Road riders in Queens rejoiced on Tuesday as the nation\u2019s busiest rail line started up again after a worker strike suspended train service for three days. <\/p>\n
LIRR trains resumed around noon following a late night agreement Monday between the MTA and unions representing train workers, ending a chaotic weekend and Monday morning filled with long trips, delays and headaches for commuters. <\/p>\n
The news of a deal and the sounds of LIRR trains rolling into Jamaica Station on Tuesday were music to the ears of daily LIRR user Catherine Leighton. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was grateful,\u201d she told the Eagle. \u201cI think a lot of New Yorkers are grateful to be able to have their commute. This is our way of life, whether it’s the subway or the LIRR or just buses, MTA in general. We really need this transportation to get around and make a living.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn’t leisure, trust me,\u201d she added. \u201cIf I didn’t have to work, I would stay home.\u201d <\/p>\n
A Brooklyn resident, Leighton takes the LIRR through Jamaica everyday to get to her retail job at Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City. <\/p>\n
During the three-day strike, she said she spent around $400 on rideshares to make sure she got to work on time. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a big setback when you can’t get to work,\u201d she said. \u201cYou don’t realize how much you rely on this transportation, and how much it means to people when it gets taken away from you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell Vogel, a Mineola-based attorney who frequents Queens\u2019 Civil Courthouse, was gearing up for a stressful week of getting to court.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was extremely worried that this would be something that I have to deal with,\u201d he said. \u201cI rely on the train system for my work.\u201d <\/p>\n
Prior to the return to service on Tuesday morning, his typically 16-minute trip to Sutphin Boulevard from Long Island took an hour. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very much a headache,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The agreement between the MTA and the unions was announced by Governor Kathy Hochul, just before 9 p.m. on Monday. <\/p>\n
During the strike, the MTA ran alternative service through city buses and Long Island NICE buses, commutes that still created frustrations for riders. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s great to be running trains again,\u201d LIRR President Rob Free said at Jamaica Station on Tuesday. \u201cIt was a difficult circumstance, but I’m very happy and very pleased that we’re back in business. We’re back to doing what we do best, and that’s providing service and keeping this region moving.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Ryan Schwach Long Island Rail Road riders in Queens rejoiced on Tuesday as the nation\u2019s busiest rail…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":236991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-236990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}