LIRR Montauk Line Overcrowding A Hiccup?

After a Memorial Day that saw trains returning to Manhattan dangerously overcrowded, a sense of seasonal normality seemed to return on similar trips June 2.

On May 27, the 11:26 AM train from Montauk to Manhattan quickly filled well past capacity as it made its stops through the Hamptons, with the aisles so choked with riders sitting on the floor or on their suitcases, that they were impassible, to the point where the conductors stopped walking through the cars to punch tickets.

Aaron Donovan, a spokesperson for the Long Island Rail Road, explained this week that, since the railroad had had to shut down the Montauk line for much of the weekend following an accident in Speonk, where a passenger train sideswiped a work train, that morning run was particularly crowded.

LaRaye Brown of the Federal Railroad Administration said last week that the FRA is aware of the overcrowding conditions that effect the Montauk line during the summer season. “The FRA is working directly with LIRR in order that it takes appropriate steps to keep aisles and stairways clear of obstructions,” she said.

t.e@indyeastend.com