Friday was the first day on the job for a Long Island native now in charge of the Long Island Rail Road.

Career transportation engineer Phillip Eng, who had been chief operating officer of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, was tapped to be the 40th president of the LIRR.

“As a lifelong Long Islander – someone who was born, raised and lived here now with my family - my main goal is to make sure Long Island Rail Road provides the service to the customers that the customers deserve," says Eng.

Eng says he knows he's faced with a big challenge. He’s taking the helm of the LIRR in the wake of major service and communication issues in recent months: The railroad's on-time performance for January was the worst in more than 20 years. Eng’s predecessor, Patrick Nowakowski, just last month introduced a 60-point plan to improve the railroad. Eng says he will work with the plan but also add to it.

"I'm going to be bringing with me a lot of ideas that I implemented over with the folks at New York City Transit, and we're gonna apply them here,” says Eng. “But a lot of those things are about focusing on signals, maintenance, communication."

As a daily rider, Eng says he knows he needs to focus on the riders. Some commuters who spoke to News 12 Long Island said they hope that means a big improvement in their daily commute in the near future.