LIRR Offering Discounts To Riders Using Transfer Hubs During Summer Penn Station Repair Work
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — The Long Island Rail Road will provide discounts averaging 25 percent to commuters who use transfer hubs in Brooklyn and Queens during the major repair work at Penn Station this summer.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Tuesday that the fare cuts will apply to passengers traveling to Atlantic Terminal and Hunterspoint Avenue as well as Long Island City, Nostrand Avenue and East New York.
The LIRR will provide free morning rush hour subway transfers from those stations.
The discounts, which take effect July 10, are based on the distance passengers are traveling and will apply to monthly, weekly and daily tickets. Discounted monthly tickets for July are now available.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for reduced fares on Monday.
"That's only fair to the people who are taking those trains," Cuomo said. "If you're taking a diverted train you're not getting the service you paid for."
Amy, a commuter from Huntington says it's about time.
"Awesome. Now I'll stop complaining," she told WCBS 880's Marla Diamond.
But she wasn't too crazy about having to take the subway into Manhattan.
"It's just confusing all around," she said.
Beginning in July, three tracks at Penn will be closed during eight weeks of emergency rail repairs, cutting service by 20 percent.
MTA Interim Director Ronnie Hakim says the plan will help draw customers away from Penn Station during the Amtrak work. The MTA has also launched what it's calling an intense public service campaign to navigate riders through the changes, Diamond reported.
A special summer schedule will be in effect from July 10 through Sept. 1. For more information, click here.
The repair work also will disrupt NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak service.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
