{"id":650696,"date":"2026-05-18T17:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T17:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/650696\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T17:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T17:16:11","slug":"lirr-riders-experiencing-hours-long-commutes-to-nyc-as-train-strike-enters-its-third-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/650696\/","title":{"rendered":"LIRR riders experiencing hours-long commutes to NYC as train strike enters its third day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Long Island Rail Road commuters are taking\u00a0shuttle buses<\/a>\u00a0and subways into New York City as the LIRR, the largest commuter rail system in North America, remained shut down Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It’s the first weekday of a strike by workers, which began on Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The National Mediation Board, which handles labor relations for railroads, summoned both sides Sunday night. No deal was reached after hours of talks<\/a>. They returned to the negotiating table at 7:30 a.m.<\/p>\n

A representative from the union said the negotiations were cordial, and they were making progress.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Workers returned to the picket line at LIRR stations Monday.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

MTA Chairman and CEO Janno described his feelings as “cautious optimism” as talks resume.\u00a0<\/p>\n

LIRR strike update<\/p>\n

The LIRR strike stems from a dispute over the final year of a four-year contract between the MTA and unions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The MTA agreed to 9.5% wage hikes and was only a percentage point apart on the fourth year. Then, union sources said the MTA suddenly asked for a steep increase in healthcare contributions for new hires from 2% to 10%.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We’re looking for a modest raise in our wages,” said union representative Raymond Delio. “Health insurance should never be on the table; we work hard enough.” <\/p>\n

Lieber said the unions are made up of the highest-paid railway workers in the United States, making well over six figures.<\/p>\n

“We are more than willing to meet them halfway in wages. In fact, more than halfway, which is why we put new ideas on the table again and again,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Passengers’ experiences on the buses<\/p>\n

Lieber said there was a pretty light turnout Monday morning, and they had more than enough buses to accommodate those who needed them. \u00a0<\/p>\n

CBS News New York’s Christina Fan was at the Ronkonkoma station Monday morning. She said passengers were able to board the replacement buses<\/a> with no issues, with plenty of open seats.<\/p>\n

“It’s very inconvenient. Unfortunately or fortunately, I am starting a new job today, so I have to get on the train,” one commuter at the Ronkonkoma station said. “Bad day to start a first day of work.” \u00a0<\/p>\n

Reporter Aziza Shuler was at Howard Beach-JFK Airport station, where the subway platform was packed with people trying to get to the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A teacher who lives in Copiague, Long Island, said he woke up around 2 a.m. to get to the bus by 4:30 a.m. He teaches in Brooklyn and said working remotely was not possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s just crazy,” he said. “It’s an inconvenience.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Transportation reporter Elijah Westbrook was in Jamaica, Queens, where he met a man who said he woke up extra early to commute.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It was fine because I got up at 3:30 in the morning to beat the traffic on the LIE, so I think those unions should think about giving a little while asking for some and get back to work. They make more than most people that ride the LIRR every day, and I think they’re being greedy about it,” he said.<\/p>\n

Is the LIRR running today?\u00a0<\/p>\n

The MTA started providing 275 free shuttle buses from six LIRR stations to Queens as the railroad remains shut down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These buses can only handle 13,000 daily riders, which is very small in comparison to the more than 250,000 normal daily LIRR riders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The MTA is encouraging people to work from home if they can.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

LIRR strike shuttle bus service map<\/p>\n

Even if a deal is reached on Monday, sources told Westbrook that service won’t resume immediately.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The railroad would still need at least a day to inspect tracks, equipment, signals and get crews situated before full service could return.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Former Department of Transportation Commissioner Sam Schwartz said the ripple effects of the commuter nightmare will be far-reaching.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Subway riders will see bigger crowds, and roads across Long Island<\/a> will be busier.<\/p>\n

“Those from the South Shore are going to see the Belt Parkway backed up like they haven’t seen in a long time. The Gowanus will be impacted. Buses will be impacted,” he said. “And we’ll have to grin and bear it.”<\/p>\n

\n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n

In:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Long Island Rail Road commuters are taking\u00a0shuttle buses\u00a0and subways into New York City as the LIRR, the largest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[28,2239,278779],"class_list":["post-650696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-long-island","tag-long-island-rail-road"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}