Preventive maintenance helps Long Island Rail Road hit best on-time mark in three years

Written by RT&S Staff

The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) is running on-schedule. Delays hit a three-year low in 2019, and much of the success is due to the LIRR Forward program.

The LIRR Forward program’s goal is to eliminate problems before they turn into delays. Quick replacement of old track switches, installing new safety devices at grade crossings, staying on top of vegetation management and investing in technology that eliminates wet leaves on the rail are just a few of the focal points of LIRR Forward. The results so far have been convincing. LIRR’s on-time performance in 2019 was 92.4 percent, which is the highest since 2016 when the agency recorded a 92.7 percent on-time mark. In 2018, the on-time performance sagged to just around 90 percent. There were a total of 18,976 LIRR delays in 2019, more than 4,500 less than in 2018.

LIRR President Phillip Eng joined in 2018 and instituted the LIRR Forward program. Eng says preventive maintenance, the hard work of employees and finding new ways to solve problems have all helped fuel the LIRR Forward program.

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