Last year was the strongest year for the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in its nearly 200-year history. The railroad’s on-time performance record was 95.65 percent — the best in its history excluding in 2020-22 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The LIRR also surpassed its 94 percent on-time performance goal each month throughout 2024 for the first time, and finished the year strong with an all-time November on-time performance record of 96.2 percent. Additionally, each of the 12 LIRR branches exceeded the 94 percent on-time performance target and 95 percent of trains ran on time in December.
“New Yorkers deserve fast and reliable train service wherever they’re headed, and the LIRR delivered to our commuters in 2024 with its strongest year to date,” Governor Kathy Hochul said. “I am committed to keeping New York moving and continuing to build on these performances, as we look forward to projects that will modernize our railroads, reduce travel time and expand train service for riders.”
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said, “Transit is helping to make Long Island — and the entire New York region — more affordable. The 687,000 monthly tickets we sold in 2024 actually cost less than in 2019.”
The LIRR saw a substantial upswing in customer satisfaction in the bi-annual Customer Satisfaction Survey conducted in Fall 2024. Overall satisfaction reached 76 percent, a 6-point increase from Spring 2024 —the highest it has been since Fall 2022 prior to the opening of Grand Central Madison.
The Fall 2024 bi-annual Customer Satisfaction Survey was conducted October 14-31, 2024, offered online in nine languages and on the phone. The LIRR had 21,854 respondents, a 27 percent increase from Spring 2024.
Long Island Rail Road President Rob Free said, “One of my main goals when I assumed the presidency of the LIRR was to create an amazing customer experience, every day, on every train. This incredible jump in customer satisfaction shows that we are in fact achieving it. The LIRR continuously monitors data and customer feedback to improve the reliability and customer experience of our service. On-time performance is at record highs, schedules are more convenient, and this makes our customers happy.”
Preliminary ridership statistics for 2024 show an increase in ridership — 75.5 million riders rode the LIRR in 2024 compared to the 65.2 million people who rode in 2023, marking a 15.8 percent increase. November 2024 was an extremely successful month for the railroad, reaching both a record on-time performance level of 96.2 percent — the highest level for that month since the statistic started being kept in 1979 — as well as carrying 6.3 million riders, up from 5.8 million in 2023.
The top 5 Ridership Weekdays in 2024 were Wednesday, November 27 with 284,694 — the highest since the pandemic; Wednesday, September 18 with 281,624; Wednesday, October 16 with 279,608; Thursday, October 17 with 277,906; and Tuesday, October 8 with 275,934.
The highest Saturday and Sunday Ridership in 2024 were Saturday, December 14 with 161,398 and Sunday, June 9 with 132,945.