LIRR Strike 2025: Latest Service Suspensions, Commuter Alternatives & Live Updates

Commuters across Nassau and Suffolk counties are bracing for the first Long Island Rail Road walkout in more than a decade as five unions representing 3,700 engineers, conductors, ticket clerks and dispatchers say they will strike at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 18, if contract talks with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority do not produce a deal. The shutdown would halt nearly 300,000 weekday trips and sever the busiest commuter link between Long Island and New York City. Why the talks collapsed • Wage gap: Labor leaders want a 16 percent raise over three years, arguing inflation and pandemic overtime have eroded pay. MTA negotiators have held firm at 9.5 percent, citing a multibillion-dollar budget deficit. • Work-rule changes: Management seeks more flexible crew assignments and expanded use of one-person train operation on off-peak runs, provisions unions say will jeopardize safety. • Federal mediation: A National Mediation Board session ended Friday with no breakthrough, triggering the cooling-off period’s final countdown, according to TCU/IAM President Artie Maratea. Service alternatives if trains stop The MTA has drafted an emergency network of 350 free shuttle buses running every 10 minutes during peak times from Mineola, Hicksville and Ronkonkoma to subway hubs in Queens. Ferries from Glen Cove and Port Jefferson will add 6,000 seats per day, and the agency will lift weekday peak fares on the Long Island Bus network. Drivers should expect gridlock on the Long Island Expressway and Grand Central Parkway; the state DOT will suspend some bridge and tunnel tolls for HOV-3 vehicles. Economic ripple effects The Partnership for New York City estimates a full-week shutdown would cost the regional economy $50 million per day in lost productivity and overtime. Island-based hospitals, JFK Airport contractors and the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black—all reliant on rail workers—have activated housing plans to keep key staff on site. Political pressure mounts Governor Kathy Hochul said she is “prepared to do whatever it takes” to prevent a stoppage, including seeking a presidential emergency board, yet both sides insist time is running out. New York City Mayor Eric Adams urged remote work and staggered hours to keep Midtown streets from “paralyzing gridlock.” What riders should do now • Sign up for LIRR push alerts and the TrainTime app for real-time updates. • Map out bus, ferry or carpool options and secure commuter parking passes before Wednesday. • If possible, coordinate flexible hours or remote days with employers. Negotiators are scheduled to meet through Wednesday afternoon; without a breakthrough, the first picket lines could appear just after midnight Thursday, stranding tens of thousands of rush-hour riders and testing the MTA’s contingency plan in the largest transit labor showdown New York has seen since 2005.