A teenager is facing multiple charges for allegedly assaulting two Long Island Rail Road conductors Wednesday when they asked him to pay a fare.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police says the 17-year-old was riding a West Hempstead branch train that was headed toward Atlantic Terminal when the conductors asked him to pay.

They say the teen refused and took a ticket-issuing machine from the conductor and started hitting him in the face with it.

Anthony Simon, the chairman of the union that represents conductors, said the conductor tried to defend himself and suffered multiple face fractures.

"Then the assistant conductor came in and then he got hit five or six times in the face and thrown around the train," Simon says.

Simon believes the assailant got on the train at Jamaica and the assault happened west of the station.

Police say the boy fled the train at the East New York station but was arrested shortly after.

He was charged with two counts of felony assault in the second degree and one count of robbery in the second degree.

The MTA police chief issued a statement, saying in part, "Having made a rapid arrest, it is now up to prosecutors to ensure the law is enforced, so this violent perpetrator faces consequences, and the victims receive the justice they deserve."

One of the conductors is from Long Island and the other is from Queens.

They are both out of the hospital and recovering from fractures and bruises.