Babylon Commuters Deal With Continued LIRR Delays

The scene at the Babylon train station Tuesday night was unusually quiet as few trains arrived from Penn Station due to snowstorm-caused delays and cancellations.  

Trains on the Babylon line were running, but not on a normal schedule, and the normal weeknight rush of commuters was missing.  The parking lot was still mostly full by 7:30 p.m., a sign of delayed commuters, and 45 minutes passed with only one half-full train arriving from New York.  There were no trains running eastbound at all.

A Long Island Railroad employee manning the ticket booth explained "there's no schedule today." 

"I have no idea when the next train [from Penn Station] is coming," she added.

Many commuters, scared off by horror stories of passengers waiting an hour or more to board trains heading city-bound this morning, apparently stayed home for a second day, unable or unwilling to risk the reported travel delays. 

The delays, affecting the LIRR island-wide, are expected to be resolved by Wednesday morning, and a "near normal" morning rush is expected, according to the MTA web site.

One commuter arriving at Babylon at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday night said his commute took him an hour and twenty minutes. 

"It really wasn't too bad," he said with a shrug.

The Internet, especially Twitter and Facebook, was abuzz Tuesday with criticisms of the LIRR service delays.  Twitter user Thatsostelle reported this morning "Babylon line running 20 minutes late. people fighting. no room. people outside for 1 hr plus." Hash tags such as "#lirr fail" and #lirr" were popular ways for frustrated commuters to vent their anger and voice concerns over the LIRR's storm response.