Long Island Rail Road started running trains by noon Tuesday, with full service to all branches by the afternoon rush hour.
NEW YORK -- LIRR workers got back to work Tuesday morning, but not in time to fully restore the railroad for the morning commute.
Instead, commuters once again had to rely on shuttle buses, providing 13,000 seats from six locations on Long Island for the morning commute. LIRR train service started back up again at noon, but only on the four electrified branches - the Babylon, Huntington, Port Washington and Ronkonkoma branches.
All branches, those that use electric as well as diesel trains, will resume normal weekday schedule at 4 p.m. -- in time for the ride home and to bring fans to Tuesday night's Knicks game MTA officials had hoped to have service restored for the morning commute, but negotiations with the five LIRR unions, representing 3,500 employees, dragged on into Monday night. The strike ended at midnight, and several steps must now be completed to get the LIRR's fleet of about 1,300 trains out of the yards and back into service.
Crew dispatchers must first call workers back, who must be assigned to trains, which need to be repositioned for the morning commute. And tracks need to be inspected per federal guidelines before they can be used again. Details of the deal were not disclosed, the union must bring it to the rank and file to ratify. The union believes the agreement will be passed.
"If we didn't think that it would be ratifiable, we would still be at the bargaining table," Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Vice President Kevin Sexton said.
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