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PRESS RELEASE


Office of the MTA Inspector General


111 West 40th Street, 5th Floor

New York, NY 10018


Barry L. Kluger
Phone: (212) 878-0007
Inspector General
Fax: (212) 878-0003



Contact: Elizabeth Keating

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Phone: (212) 878-0007

February 21, 2008


MTA Inspector General Releases Report on LIRR Service Disruptions

Identifies Shortcomings, Recognizes LIRR and LIPA Actions to Improve Response, Communication

MTA Inspector General Barry L. Kluger today issued the results of a review of the Long Island Rail Roads
(LIRR) response to a series of service disruptions that occurred in the winter of 2007. The review was
conducted by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), at the request of MTA Executive Director and
Chief Executive Officer Elliot G. Sander, who asked that the OIG examine how the LIRR responded to five
service disruptions including two major events occurring on January 5, 2007 and February 2, 2007. These
incidents one due to a right-of-way fatality and the other downed power lines caused major delays
impacting more than 100,000 customers. The report found that while there were significant procedural
deficiencies exhibited by LIRR, Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) and the MTA Police Department
(MTAPD), policy changes have been subsequently implemented to ensure adequate response in future
situations.

Although disruptions cannot be totally prevented, we must minimize any resulting frustration and
inconvenience, said MTA Inspector General Barry L. Kluger. While our cooperative efforts should
significantly improve response capabilities and communication, there is more to be done. My office will
continue to monitor the implementation of the new initiatives, test them over time and make ongoing
recommendations for the benefit of all who work or ride on the Railroad.

I asked the Inspector General to undertake this study because it was clear that we needed to do a better job
both responding to disruptions and communicating with our customers, said Elliot G. Sander, MTA
Executive Director and CEO. I am pleased that working collaboratively we have identified and
implemented solutions that will significantly improve our performance.

The review conducted by the Inspector General has served as the catalyst for the LIRR to dramatically
improve its response to service disruptions," said LIRR President Helena Williams. "Encompassing both
public communication and emergency response procedures, these improvements will help us keep our
customers and employees safe, restore service as rapidly as possible, while at the same time providing
riders with more accurate and timely information on the nature and anticipated duration of incidents. In
addition, we have strengthened our relationship with LIPA to make sure our two companies work closely
during a crisis to resolve any issues that negatively impact our customers.



PRESS RELEASE

"The incidents last year that highlighted the issues contained in the Inspector General's report, while
unfortunate, served as the impetus for the major subsequent improvements we have made, both with respect
to LIPA's infrastructure and our emergency protocols with the LIRR," said Kevin S. Law, President and
CEO of LIPA. "By the end of 2008, LIPA will have invested more than three million dollars in
infrastructure improvements along LIRR facilities, and as a result of a meeting between LIRR President
Williams, myself, and key members of our respective staffs, we have established a Joint Operating Task
Force that will meet quarterly to ensure that the line of communication between our two agencies is an
open and ongoing one."

"It was very gratifying to see the results of the Inspector Generals thorough investigation of this matter.
This report confirms our contentions that major changes had to be made, as well as providing the
guidelines for these changes, some of which have already been implemented. While much still needs to
be done, this report is an excellent starting point, said Gerard Bringmann, Chairman, Long Island Rail
Road Commuters Council.

The incident on January 5 occurred when an individual trespassing on LIRR tracks was struck and killed by
an eastbound train in the Rego Park section of Queens. Six trains were stranded between stations and other
customers had to wait at stations for up to four hours. A month later, on February 2, a LIPA power line
came loose and fell across the tracks near LIRRs Valley Interlocking, halting service in both directions
along the Long Beach, Far Rockaway, Montauk, Atlantic and West Hempstead Branches. Fourteen trains
were stranded while passengers at stations waited for at least three hours for service. In addition to these
two incidents, the OIG reviewed three other incidents that occurred in the winter of 2007 but these were
found to have caused no significant disruptions.

The findings of the OIG were shared throughout the review with LIRR and with MTAPD to facilitate
immediate improvements to LIRRs and MTAPDs emergency response protocols and procedures. As a
result, LIRR, LIPA and MTAPD have already established new response and communication protocols. In
addition, resulting from its own review process, LIRR has implemented a series of initiatives for a more
effective response to such incidents. As the purpose of the OIG review was to bring about significant
improvements rather than assigning blame for the past, the review has already begun to achieve its
purpose, Mr. Kluger said.

"We are grateful to MTA Executive Director Elliot Sander for requesting this review of the response to
LIRR service disruptions last winter and to MTA Inspector General Barry Kluger and his staff for their
thorough and thoughtful work in summarizing these incidents and highlighting areas requiring
improvement, said Bill Henderson, Executive Director, Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the
MTA. The attention given to communication in this review addresses a major longstanding concern
among riders and underscores the importance of communication to the customer. While it may be painful
to revisit the incidents in this report and the failures that occurred in the reactions to them, they contain a
wealth of lessons that can be used to improve future responses to service disruptions. We look forward to
the full implementation of the improvements contained in the report."

In conducting its review, OIG interviewed passengers, train crews, LIRR management and employees,
LIPA officials and first responders including MTAPD personnel. Hundreds of pages of documents as well
as recorded conversations were analyzed. The OIG evaluated the LIRRs response in terms of timeliness,
effectiveness, with a special emphasis on customer service. In addition, OIG reviewed whether LIPA




adequately protects LIRRs tracks from unnecessary disruptions and sufficiently responds to emergencies
along the right-of-way.

While emergencies will inevitably occur and are beyond the Railroads ability to completely prevent,
OIGs analyses revealed a number of limitations on LIRRs ability, at that time, to respond to sudden, large
scale disruptions during peak rush hour periods. OIG found that in both the January 5 and February 2
incidents, the staffing levels of LIRRs Movement Bureau proved inadequate and LIRRs ability to provide
timely, consistent and accurate information to its customers and to its own personnel broke down. Adding
to these problems on January 5, the command structure at the site was never clearly established,
undermining the coordination between LIRR and local responders and the flow of information to LIRR
personnel. The February 2 incident was also further complicated by LIPA protocols that restricted its
employees from providing information to others at the site. In addition, LIPA did not provide the
immediate and effective response required under the circumstances.

As OIG and LIRR worked closely together and shared information throughout the process, significant
improvements began almost immediately to be developed. Guided by OIG findings and by its own internal
reviews and assessments, LIRR, MTAPD and LIPA have taken specific and concrete steps to improve their
emergency response capabilities. Among these are:



Establishment of LIRR Public Information Office to obtain and disseminate real-time service
information
New LIPA inspection and emergency response protocols
New Emergency Action Plan to increase communication and coordination between LIPA and
LIRR
Installation of message boards and destination monitors in Penn Station
Cell phones for LIRR personnel
New incident response structure for the Movement Bureaus Operations Center
Additional Movement Bureau staffing
New patrol supervision and patrol officer responsibilities

While this report clearly sets out the problems of the past and has already contributed to the development of
new emergency protocols and procedures for addressing emergencies in the future, OIG intends to review
the implementation and effectiveness of these new emergency protocols if and when, a future incident
should arise. In doing so, OIG will continu