Trains were rolling again on the Long Island Rail Road on Tuesday after a deal was reached to end a strike that had shut down the busiest commuter rail system in the United States, according to the Associated Press.
The first trains departed shortly after noon from New York City’s two main LIRR hubs, Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal, as riders prepared for the evening rush home, the report said.
As the system restarted, riders described mixed reactions to the apparent end of the walkout. Michele Forrester, who relies on the LIRR to get to her job at a grocery on Long Island, said the shutdown should not have happened in the first place, pointing to the wages and cost pressures faced by workers.
“I just feel like it should not have gotten to this point in the first place,” Forrester said Tuesday afternoon as she waited at the LIRR hub in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens. “With how much they make, it feels like other people are struggling to get by, and they’re talking about getting more money.”
Other riders framed the strike as a reminder about the role of working people in keeping New York functioning. Nya Archie, a filmmaker from Queens headed into Manhattan, said the walkout highlighted that workers remain vital.
Labor union leaders began briefing rank-and-file members about the contract terms after the deal, according to Jamie Horwitz, a spokesperson for the five unions. Horwitz said voting was expected over the coming days through each union’s contract ratification process.
The strike began at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, shutting down the rail system for roughly 250,000 commuters who use the service that links New York City to its eastern suburbs every weekday. The report said some morning commuters had navigated a difficult first day of travel before the agreement was reached late Monday.
Even with service resuming, the LIRR still urged riders to work from home again Tuesday, the AP report said. Shuttle buses were also offered from several locations on Long Island to subway stations in New York City.
Some riders welcomed the end of the shutdown after being forced to find long alternative routes during the strike. Hallie Kessler, a 24-year-old speech therapist who said she commuted about three hours home from a public school job in Queens on Monday, said she was relieved the disruption would not continue into her afternoon departure from work.
“Obviously I wish trains would be running when peak hours start so I could avoid the long morning commute, but happy to not deal with it in the afternoon when I’m leaving work,” Kessler said. She also pointed to concerns about future fares, adding that she wanted to see what the deal says.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and railroad officials declined to disclose details of the contract terms until they are approved by union members, the report said. Hochul, who is up for reelection, stressed that the agreement would not increase fares or taxes.
Robert Free, president of the LIRR, said the parties “found another way” to make the numbers work. He said there were elements in the agreement meant to make it more affordable and to make it easier for the unions to reach a deal within the railroad’s financial structure.
The report said the first impacts of the walkout were felt over the weekend, including changes to travel plans for baseball fans trying to get to Citi Field in Queens for the New York Mets’ games against the Yankees. It also noted that basketball fans traveling for the Knicks’ playoff run at Madison Square Garden, located above the LIRR’s Penn Station hub in Manhattan, were set to avoid the disruption after Hochul said the deal would prevent the same fate.
The AP report said the unions and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had been negotiating a new contract since 2023 but talks stalled over salaries and healthcare. The unions said raises were needed to help workers keep up with inflation and the rising cost of living in the New York City area, while the MTA said the unions’ initial demands would lead to fare increases and create a difficult precedent for bargaining with other transit unions.