Last night's long journey on the Long Island Railroad began when all of the passengers had boarded the 6:21 East-bound train to Ronkonkoma at Penn Station. An announcement, that was barely audible, went something like this: "We're sorry for the inconvenience, but this train is disabled. Please gather all of your belongings and board the incoming train on the next track."
Tensions had already mounted on the hot and steamy platform, and now we had to change trains. At this point the train was already late as we proceeded to our destination. Then we start to crawl. We come to a hault at the Mineola station—an unscheduled stop for the 6:21 Ronkonkoma train. "Due to a disabled train in Westbury..."
So we sat...
and sat...
The conductor's voice grew increasingly frustrated with each update: "Well, they report it'll be another 10 minutes, folks". After about 30 minnutes or so, we continued (albeit, at a snail's pace). Later that evening, I walked in the door to our apartment at 8:45PM, 2 1/2 hours after boarding the train at Penn.
Oh, and the rates went up for the LIRR in March! With frequent delays and occasional fiascos like this one, for some reason I don't feel like I'm getting my $239.00 worth each month....
1 comment:
Wow, you brought back some fond memories of my commutes from Long Island!
Okay, maybe they weren't that fond...
//k
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