N.Y. Commuters Use Cars, Buses; Brace for Rail Strike Crunch Today
A strike against the Long Island Rail Road forced commuters into cars and buses Monday for what was just a preview of the transit nightmares that await them today, the first regular workday in the shutdown of the nation’s largest commuter railroad.
Meanwhile, a third union, representing signalmen, joined the engineers and railway police in the strike that began at dawn Sunday.
Despite the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday that kept many workers home, traffic on the Long Island Expressway approached the rush-hour levels that have earned it the distinction as “the world’s longest parking lot.”
“The railroad strike may extend the hours that people refer to it as a parking lot, probably for the whole business day,” Samuel Schwartz, the New York City transportation commissioner, warned.
Representatives from the carrier’s 11 unions still without contracts resumed negotiations that collapsed early Sunday, shutting down the commuter line that serves about 165,000 riders daily.
During Monday’s talks, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen also struck, and after afternoon bargaining sessions, both management and union officials remained pessimistic about a quick settlement.
“I can’t say we’re making very much progress,” LIRR President Bruce McIver said.
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