'Long Island FAILroad' Facebook Page Gives Frustrated Commuters Online Outlet
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A group of Long Island commuters has organized to criticize.
Members of the Long Island FAILroad Facebook group commiserated at a Penn Station bar one night during rush hour and banded together to take their gripes about train service to social media.
"I don't remember having delays that are this significant, this often, and this pronounced," group member Kelly Bodami told CBS2's Jennifer McLogan.
The group was formed by an East Northport commuter eager to have a voice the Long Island Rail Road couldn't block. It's membership now stands 1,600 strong.
Governor Andrew Cuomo finds the page's name creative, but does it bother him?
"No, maintenance deferred, capital improvements deferred, and now you're seeing the result," he said.
Cuomo was referencing the money that wasn't spent to fix the system.
The group boasts FAILroad buttons and tote bags to bring attention to what they call a nearly daily torment, and they're not shy about telling LIRR officials what they think. As a result, they're very much on officials' radar.
"The more information, the more we know, the better it is," Metropolitan Transportation Authority board member Mitch Pally said.
Cuomo said he fought for two years to get finance and has put together a $6.6-billion improvement plan.
"It is the largest investment in the history of Long Island," he said.
The governor said it will include parking garages, enhancements to 30 stations, new cars, systems switches, and transformers.
Members of the group maintain they'll remain a thorn in the side of the LIRR until service and communication both improve.