LIRR Penn Station

Please do your best not to take the LIRR to Penn any time soon. The LIRR access is under construction and it is the most horrible claustrophobic experience. Took the Huntington line to Penn on a Tuesday night and got off the train. The platform was so jammed we couldn’t move. Once the gigantic crowd of people began to slowly go up the stairs were were like trapped mice. They have sectioned off the corridors so small that we were literally stuck, trapped for over 15 minutes in the summer heat, not moving at all with two rows of people on either side of us also not moving… people turned one way to try and get into Penn Station and people turned the other trying to get to the train tracks to get home. It was literally like a scene from Amistad. My friend and I purposely took the subway to Atlantic Terminal to get home. I cannot imagine any person who is older, or with any type of disability negotiating this without completely losing it. I cannot imagine how this saturation is not a fire hazard. If God forbid anyone had to get out of there there was no possible way.

It is what it is … however SERIOUS attention needs to be given to the late AM Friday and Saturday night «DRUNK A*HOLE» trains.
(Whatever you do a must to avoid is the 1:40 AM train that combines ALL DESTINATIONS to one train till Jamaica where they part ways. This is the WORST train that is scarily packed to capacity with the worst element of human trash – all in their early 20s an livin at home).
SECURITY MUST be present on these trains. Really horrible!

Craziest transportation Experience ever! We had to wait before they posted which track our train would be departing and by the time they did it was a race to get on. They waited an additional 4 minutes before they were scheduled to leave but it made for some unwanted stress! In addition to the first part, when we arrived at Jamaica we only had 1 minute before our connection left, ugh!

If LIRR aspires to be an efficient, well run, clean, and on time service, well then they must be dreaming. I can’t believe that this crap passes for a train system. In other civilized countries, this wouldn’t even pass for a subway.

Recently took the LIRR to Fire Island, and they had a package deal going on that had roundtrip train, ferry and taxi to Cherry Grove, which was very cheap and convenient to buy all in one place than to buy individually and separately, and it was all $ 34, a bargain compared to the $ 55 if you were to buy everything individually, so it saved me $ 21 that I can use for drinks, food, etc. at Fire Island! Buying the tickets were simple, because I used the machines (after seeing the line for buying at the ticket counter was long, it’s your best option if you know where you’re going and what to buy on the machine). It was fast and convenient, printed out all my tickets for the day, and off I went to Fire Island. The trains were clean and fast, but the trains can use some advice. There is absolutely no wi-​fi services available on the trains or stations, and sometimes when you have delays and no service out in LI, you have no other choice. Also, the trains should run more frequently, as compared to just one train every hour from LI to NYC and vice versa. Things happen and sometimes we miss the train, but I don’t want to have to wait an hour on the dimly lit and creepy platform in the middle of no where by myself for another train, so please add more train service. Other than that, no complaint. I really loved the deals and getaways, I would like to see some more for 2016!

Train spotting…
Polite service from the teller to transport on a bustling Friday evening in the middle of the New York summer. My only wish is that the couple hashing out the details of their complex relationship would wait to get home and not get all caught up here on the train. Even headphones can’t drown out the drama. (Sigh…)
The conductor was really nice about helping me out when I missed my stop because of their ruckus and had to be redirected to a train that would reach the correct stop. Very difficult not to smile at his old-​school cap, which reminds me of straphangers and checkered cabs, haha.
It is what you make of it. Have a great weekend.

Things need to be complained then to be improved.
One thing I don’t understand about LIRR as a whole is that they don’t give out changes on the train. People not saying anything maybe because they all got used to it, they think that’s the way it is, but that is not necessarily right.
One time I was riding the train with a ticket a friend gave me, it has 6.50 $ on it, I was asked to pay 4 dollars more, and the ticket was 10 dollars, I asked for 50 $ back, they told me they don’t do that. Then why ask for 4 dollars of me? they should’ve asked for 3.50 $ !
Another time I used a peak hour ticket for an off-​peak hour ride, 3 dollars of mine was wasted.
Of course it’d gonna be too much troublesome for them to give out changes on the train, when train is moving, people are crowded… But it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t need to be changed and improved.
They may update the devices for ticketing on the train!

A bustling place. Penn Station has some decent food choices, albeit a loud area and not the most easy to find some quiet space to enjoy though

God, I wish they’d finish that connector to Grand Central already. I HATE the ridiculous mad dash to the track since they can’t be bothered to tell you ahead of time what track your train is leaving on. Had a discussion on this very issue with a guy traveling from DC this morning. If MetroNorth can post THEIR tracks for their trains in a timely fashion to avoid a mad dash to the platform, why can’t the LIRR?

If you need to get from Midtown to JFK or versus in a jiffy but don’t want to fork over too much for a taxi, this has to be the next best option! Takes about 25mins from Midtown to Jamaica Beach plus another 15 mins for Airtrain. The hell with the A and E train!
Tip: City pass on weekends can save you several bucks! Only can use on the day of purchase!

Very limited experience, but if you need to get from Midtown out towards Queens (JFK) and would rather it take 17 mins than 45 on the E, it’s fine.

All my life I’ve been using Penn Station, and I assumed it was just what major metro train stations looked like. Then I took one look at Grand Central and realized what they COULD be. Penn station is a run-​down, cavernous, filthy train station; especially the LIRR terminal, which I have the misfortune of using daily for work.
You enter by one of the escalators that are broken or stopped several times a year, and you are treated to a dank, loud terminal.
Recently, the company in charge of all of the fast food restaurants kicked everybody out! The TGI Fridays, Taco Bell/​Tim Hortons/​Nathans, Pizzeria/​Bodega, and KFC are all gone, making way for more «upscale» dining options a la Grand Central. Here’s the thing: You wouldn’t dine in a dumpster, you wouldn’t dine in Penn Station. The reason that most of the places to eat were fast food is because you grab something and then get the hell out of Penn Station!
I hear that the old Penn Station was even nicer than Grand Central, and that makes me sad thinking of what might have been if it hadn’t been demolished and a new station seemingly built in the same location without cleaning up the razed old station first. Hyperbole? Yeah, I’ll give you that one.
I long for the day when I no longer rely on Penn Station as such an integral part of my daily commute to work. Not that subway stations are that much better, but at least they’re designed with exiting in mind.

Aside from the less unfortunate ppl asking for change some of the workers here actually help.

I am just glad I do not have to use the LIRR more than a few times a year. I do not see any improvement, just an outrageous ticket price. The off peak prices are certainly no bargain. The cars and bathrooms are still disgustingly dirty. My daughter was interested in a college in Queens and we looked into the cost for the month. It would be over $ 400 a month. Ridiculous. They are certainly not hurting for business either. It is a shame because it is the only way to get into the city from Long Island if you don’t want to drive.

LIRR: I get the gripe about the LIRR being over priced and under performing but there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s on time a majority of the time and it’s safer than the subway.
Penn Station: I actually like Penn Station, I like the food options, the bathrooms are cleaner than most Starbucks, and it feels safe. As a female — waiting for the LIRR at 2AM on a Saturday morning doesn’t make me paranoid because there’s always people around including cops and army people.

Good old LIRR. Even with these newer train cars it’s still the same. Filthy bathrooms on the train. Bowl won’t flush and no running water to wash my hands. Overpriced even on off-​peak weekends but there is no other way to get out to eastern Long Island unless you want to pay for a rental car and drive there. As a major commuting artery into Manhattan for tens of thousands you would think WiFi would be installed by now but they have yet to figure it out. If Amtrak can do it why can’t the LIRR? So lame. More like Long Island Fail Road.
At least the station announcements on the trains are clear, and the conductors seem like good people.
Also, I am about to strangle the obnoxious guy talking loudly on his cell phone a few seats up from me. The whole ride so far. Shut the heck up already!

Train, train, ya had to take a train, leavin’ me here feelin’ this pain, you know the trains are way outdated, babe*
It’s truly disturbing that the MTA can still run old trains when even the ‘new’ models are light years behind mass transit in the rest of the world AND still manage to charge more AND impose deal-​with-​it policies about lateness and cancellations.
*© Barton Carroll, «It had to be a train»

A bit dirty, dingy, but less touristy than Grand Central. Gets you where you need to go. Signage can get a bit confusing at times, performers are sometimes really great.
Five things I really, really, reaaaalllly wish would happen:
1) Wifi
2) Electrical plugs to charge phone
3) More seating
4) Better air ventilation
5) MORE TRAINS AT NIGHT SO US LONG ISLANDERS WHO MISS THE 1AM/​2AM TRAIN DO NOT HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL 4 AM FOR THE ‘DRUNK TRAIN’
Yes.

Decent for what it is. Pretty dirty, but that’s to be expected, right? It is NYC after all.
My only «real» complaint is that the food/​drinks here are ridiculously expensive! I guess that due to the overhead. but $ 3.50 for a gatorade? I’ll have to pass dude. I think the only reasonable spot is Subway… which I hate, but what else you going to do on a drunk night?

Its how us «Long Islanders» go home… but at 3am… its always a sh! t show on friday and saturday nights while trying to wait for your train.
As much as that those days are becoming few and far between its quite entertaining to watch nonetheless.