LIRR touts best on-time numbers since 2012, critics push back against metrics used

The Long Island Rail Road touted its performance record to start the year, but not everyone is on board with the numbers.
LIRR President Phillip Eng says the month of January finished with the railroad's best on-time performance since 2012, hitting 93.3%.
Eng credited the improved performance to the LIRR Forward Service initiative, which aims to address the root causes of the railroad's persistent delays. That includes problems caused by bad weather and aging infrastructure.
"We've taken a proactive approach to hardening our infrastructure, mitigating impacts to weather and other factors that contributed to delays," says Eng.
The MTA's report comes a month after a state comptroller's audit criticized the LIRR, saying it uses misleading performance measures to exaggerate the size of its ridership and reliability of its trains.
Critics also say it's too early for the LIRR to be bragging about improved on-time performance because of this year's mild winter.
The LIRR Commuters Campaign says the railroad should adopt a different method of measuring on-time performance.
"There's a method out there called passenger hours delayed. You measure the total number of passenger hours of delay and that would be a significant accurate change," says Peter Haynes, of the LIRR Commuters Campaign.
Some commuters who spoke with News 12 said most of their trains have been on time this year, but others say the true test will be if they can sustain it once track work is completed.