The Long Island Rail Road (reporting mark LI) or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York, stretching from Manhattan to the easternmost tip of Suffolk County, New York. It is the second busiest commuter railroad in North America (only recently surpassed by its sister railroad, Metro-North), serving about 81 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US railroad still operating under its original name and charter. There are 124 stations on the LIRR, and more than 700 miles (1,100 km) of track on its two lines to the two forks of the island and eight major branches. Each weekday, the LIRR provides more than 303,000 rides to customers. It is publicly owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which has styled it MTA Long Island Rail Road. The current LIRR logo combines the circular MTA logo with the text Long Island Rail Road, and appears on the sides of trains. The LIRR is one of two commuter rail systems owned by the MTA; the other one is Metro-North Railroad.
The LIRR is the only commuter passenger railroad in the United States to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with significant off peak, weekend, and holiday service.
Read more about Long Island Rail Road: History, Major Stations, Passenger Lines and Services, Fare Structure, Train Operations, Power Transmission, Equipment, Named Trains, Freight Service, Planned Service Expansions, Passenger Issues, Law Enforcement, Allegation of Pension and Disability Fraud
Famous quotes containing the words long, island, rail and/or road:
“How long shall we sit in our porticoes practising idle and musty virtues, which any work would make impertinent? As if one were to begin the day with long-suffering, and hire a man to hoe his potatoes; and in the afternoon go forth to practise Christian meekness and charity with goodness aforethought!”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Know that, on the right hand of the Indies, there is an island called California, very near to the Terrestrial Paradise, which was peopled with black women.... Their arms were all of gold.”
—For the State of California, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Old man, it’s four flights up and for what?
Your room is hardly any bigger than your bed.
Puffing as you climb, you are a brown woodcut
stooped over the thin rail and the wornout tread.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.”
—J.R.R. (John Ronald Revel)