A public outcry erupted over Long Island Railroad service last week, after irate riders tipped the NY Post to declining conditions and performance on the country's busiest commuter railroad. More train cars than usual have been removed from service for maintenance following breakdowns, causing worse than usual crowding, and the official on-time performance measure for June fell to 87.5%. Riders were especially incensed at a high failure rate of air conditioning.

The LIRR Commuter Council and others, including Senator D'Amato, quickly took LIRR's management to task for poor performance and inadequate maintenance.

Some labor sources said the situation was an unsurprising manifestation of long-deferred maintenance on the railroad's aging fleet. They also said recent service increases without addition of new rolling stock had stressed the old equipment more. An LIRR spokesperson told the Post that maintenance operations had been running only part-time prior to the summer.

Delivery of many new train cars and locomotives is in the LIRR's near future, but observers worry the railroad is positioning itself for more postponed maintenance. LIRR's most modern maintenance facility, the Hillside shop, does not have strong enough floors for diesel locomotives. LIRR will thus have to build a new facility to maintain its new equipment, which includes bi-mode diesel/electric engines. But, with some of the new rolling stock set to start its shake-out period with the railroad, work on the new maintenance center, an addition to the Richmond Hill shop, has yet to begin.