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Business & Tech

Late Trains Frustrate Patchogue Commuters

Residents talk about the timeliness of trains at the Patchogue LIRR Station.

A recent New York Times survey found that one in 10 commuter trains that arrive in Penn Station during the morning rush hour do not arrive on time. It's a sentiment echoed by the commuters at the Patchogue train station.

"The trains are constantly late, and especially poorly maintained," said Robert Sack, of Brookhaven, who has been commuting to New York City daily for the past 40 years. "It's not uncommon to find the air conditioning not working or power failures."

On average, riders said that the train usually arrives at the station late twice a week during the morning rush. The LIRR does offer alerts via text message that are sent to subscribers when service is disrupted, but commuters like Beth Schloth, of East Patchogue, have not received notices in a timely manner.

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"What's irritating to me is a lot of times they haven't posted when it's late," said Schloth, a business analyst who commutes daily to Manhattan. "You get notified after the fact. It's really frustrating especially if you're commuting late in the day and you just want to get home."

Riders said that they experience the most trouble in poor weather conditions, like snow or heavy rain.

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"If there's the slightest inclement weather, you can hardly expect the train to be on time because it's often cancelled," remarked Sack. "The trains can't seem to handle weather under 10 degrees or any heavy rains."

Some riders, like Nilsa Gomez, of Holbrook, have had more issues trying to get home. Reduced service for trains heading eastbound from Babylon has caused problems for commuters trying to make their connection who are often left waiting 20 minutes or more for the next train.

"In the morning, it's not too bad, just coming home there are a lot of delays because they cut some trains," said Gomez, who commutes to Rockville Centre five days a week. "I think they should have more trains connecting at Babylon. You wait sometimes for 20 minutes. You just sit and wait there."

That wait often makes commuters late for work.

"I've had to run into work at times," said Schloth, who plans meetings that she facilitates to accommodate her train schedule. "There are only so many times you can say that the train's been late."

Now with even more fare hikes on the way for LIRR riders, commuters don't have much hope for improvement.

An anonymous commuter remarked, "I find those percentages they come up with laughable. I don't know how they finagle those numbers."

"I just feel that with the money we spend on the trains, I spend $310 to commute each month," said Schloth. "And most of the conductors won't help out."

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