Port Washington riders allege LIRR proposal would increase commute by 10 minutes

Long Island Rail Road commuters in Port Washington are frustrated with proposed schedule changes coming to their commute.

News 12 Staff

Jul 12, 2022, 9:40 PM

Updated 885 days ago

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Long Island Rail Road commuters in Port Washington are frustrated with proposed schedule changes coming to their commute.
According to the LIRR, their proposal would provide 70% more service in the morning and more than 43% more service in the evening with direct access to Manhattan's eastside for the Port Washington branch.
However, commuter Ariana Parasco says the LIRR is misleading the public with their statement about the proposal.
"When they are saying more trains - they're actually saying 70% more service after the reduced COVID schedule so all they're really doing is restoring the pre-COVID schedule, which means no additional trains," Parasco says.
While the number of rush-hour trains for the Port Washington branch will increase, they will be divvied up between the railroad's two Manhattan terminals.
Currently, there are 14 Port Washington trains that go out of Penn Station during the evening. Under the proposal, the number would drop to 10 and another 10 would leave out of Grand Central Station. This would increase commute times by around 10 minutes.
Assembly Member Gina Sillitti says everybody is happy that there will be eastside access, but that the project should not be done at the expense of the Port Washington branch.
Sillitti says the issue needs to be fixed before timetables on the project are finalized and is asking commuters to fill out a survey to let the LIRR know their concerns.
If the proposal goes through, it would begin to take effect in December.