Lons Island suit filed over poor railroad service

MINEOLA, N.Y. — All aboard the lawsuit train.

Even before this week’s start of a two-month track renovation project at New York’s Pennsylvania Station that’s expected disrupt life for hundreds of thousands, some frustrated Long Island Rail Road riders filed a lawsuit over its chronic shutdowns, delays and packed trains that they say are unacceptable.

It is believed to be the first such legal action by riders over the most recent problems with rail lines running in and out of Penn Station.

“It’s getting unsafe. People are fighting because it’s so unbearable. The anxiety is out of control,” says Meredith Jacobs, vice president of sales for a Manhattan dress manufacturer and a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed last month.

The suit against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the LIRR’S parent organization, claims breach of contract, negligence and “intentional infliction of emotional distress,” listing a litany of complaints alleging the railroad is failing to provide on-time, safe and reliable service. It seeks unspecified damages.

“The mornings tend to not be as bad, but the evenings are a nightmare,” said Jacobs, who has been riding the LIRR from her home in Wantagh to Penn Station for 24 years. “The trains and platforms are usually standing-room-only.”

An MTA spokesman said the authority does not comment on pending litigation.

Paul Liggieri, an LIRR commuter and attorney who filed the lawsuit, hopes the suit, even if it fails, elicits changes for commuters. “We are requesting hundreds of documents be turned over. I am hoping they will help give me answers for my clients.”

Liggieri is also waiting to learn whether a state judge will grant class-action status to the lawsuit, making it possible for hundreds, if not thousands, of commuters eligible to join in.