LONG ISLAND, N.Y. — As the Metropolitan Transportation Authority sets up committees to work out the details of its sweeping restructuring plan announced Wednesday, it appears that the LIRR may keep its name after merging with Metro-North, New York Newsday reports.
MTA chairman Peter S. Kalikow said yesterday that he believes the brand names of both railroads will stay, MTA officials confirmed.
No final decision has been made, but the “names in some form may remain,” MTA press secretary Tom Kelly said yesterday. He would not elaborate.
MTA officials had balked when asked about the possible name change after Wednesday’s unveiling of the creation of a corporate-style reorganization that would create five MTA companies, each with a single transportation mission. The Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North will merge under a single company called MTA Rail Road. Long Island Bus will merge with city bus services to form MTA Bus.
Kelly said yesterday that the MTA has set up committees for the companies that cover railroads, subways, buses and capital programs. It is unclear who will run the companies, and the future of LIRR president Kenneth Bauer was uncertain as well.
“No decisions have been made on personnel,” Kelly said yesterday.
But Mitch Pally, vice president for government affairs for the Long Island Association, the region’s largest business group, said he is hopeful Bauer will remain on board. Bauer was unavailable to comment.
“He has proven to be a dynamic and very important transportation leader on Long Island, and we would hope his responsibilities continue for the LIRR,” Pally said.
The plan requires legislative approval, with an anticipated date of completion by 2004. Mark Vogel, an aide to State Sen. Caesar Trunzo (R-Brentwood), who is the Senate’s transportation committee chair, said the senator generally supports the plan but has not seen the details.
“We want to keep the fares down on the bus and the train. Consolidation should be a good thing,” Vogel said.
Commuters and railroad workers yesterday morning said the news of a Metro North-LIRR merger raised questions about what the MTA would do with any money it saves from its planned changes.
Riders had a few suggestions, such as using savings to cut fares and run the trains on time, and putting more cars in service so they don’t have to stand during rush hour.
“I like the concept of being more efficient, but not calling it the Long Island Rail Road anymore? I didn’t like that,” said Shelly Klareich, a photo supplies salesman from Hauppauge on a morning commute to Manhattan yesterday.
Patty Rendon, 26, an accountant from Huntington, said she hopes that if the MTA saves money through the merger, it will invest it in improved service.
“As long as the service gets better, not worse. On-time performance is my main concern,” said Rendon, who has commuted on the LIRR for four years.
Several LIRR conductors, who declined to give their names, said they were concerned about how the MTA changes would affect them. One conductor said workers planned to meet next week in response to the MTA announcement.
Commuter Bill Hoyt, a West Hempstead accountant who has commuted on the LIRR to Penn Station for seven years, said he had no objection to a merger with Metro-North.
“As long as they don’t give Metro-North more trains than Long Island,” he said.
Plans also call for the merging of all MTA bus operations into one, MTA Bus, including Long Island Bus in Nassau County. John Orcutt, associate director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, said LI Bus could be “dwarfed” in the merger with the bigger city system.
“What kind of independent planning and independent … life will be maintained in that environment?” Orcutt said.