(Bloomberg) — Long Island Rail Road riders are bracing for hourslong Monday-morning commutes as a salary fight between the nation’s busiest commuter rail line and its employees forced a systemwide shutdown, the first in more than 30 years.

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LIRR customers are scrambling for alternative ways to get to and from New York City and throughout Long Island after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and union leaders failed to reach a deal by a late Friday night deadline after two days of marathon contract negotiations. The MTA is a state agency that runs the city’s subways and buses, as well as the LIRR and Metro-North commuter lines.

The parties restarted negotiations Sunday afternoon after federal mediators summoned the unions and the MTA for talks, according to a spokesperson for the coalition of unions.

About 3,500 engineers, signalmen and electrical workers walked off the job Saturday, seeking higher wages. The LIRR’s last strike was in 1994.

Earlier Sunday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul urged the parties to restart negotiations, extending a public invitation to the unions to meet again with MTA officials.

“I urge both sides to come together as soon as possible and resolve this to avoid a prolonged strike that’ll disrupt a lot of hardworking New Yorkers and affect the pocketbooks of the union members,” Hochul said during a news conference in midtown Manhattan.

Striking LIRR workers wore red T-shirts that read “United to Protect Real Wages” and picketed outside of New York’s Penn Station on Saturday. Inside the station, areas that would normally be packed with LIRR riders waiting before boarding their trains were quiet with fewer people passing through. Stairways leading to train platforms were closed or blocked off and signs read “THERE IS NO Long Island Rail Road Service at this time.”

Several customer-service employees in bright orange and yellow vests helped worried customers who were expecting to travel on LIRR that day but were surprised when they got to Penn Station and learned for the first time about the strike.

“I just got here and saw no service,” said Jeff Arriaza, a 19-year-old Saint Peter’s University student who was trying to get to Long Island to visit his sister. “Can you guys take us to Mineola?”

The MTA is asking people to work from home, if possible. Its contingency plan during morning and afternoon weekday rush hours includes running as many as 275 shuttle buses from six different locations on Long Island to subway stations in Queens. The buses will be able to accommodate 13,000 passengers heading to the city in the morning and back home again in the afternoon, according to Shanifah Rieara, the MTA’s chief customer officer. That service will fall well short of LIRR’s typical weekday ridership of about 300,000.

For some, the strike will have negative consequences beyond a longer commute. Karina Grant, who commutes into Manhattan five days a week from Port Washington, Long Island, said her life would be totally upended by an extended strike. Remote work isn’t an option with her retail job. She usually takes a 5:30 a.m. train to arrive in time for her 7 a.m. shift. She has looked into taking an Uber to the nearest subway station, but the price of that would amount to almost her entire daily wage.

“If there’s no Long Island Rail Road, I seriously might have to find a new job,” she added. “I don’t know if it will get to that point, but I’m pretty stressed about it.”

The historic work stoppage comes as affordability is a daily concern for riders and MTA workers as they face higher prices for groceries, gas and other needs. It’s also the region’s second commuter rail strike in roughly 12 months after train engineers in May 2025 refused to work for three days on New Jersey Transit. Governor Hochul has said she won’t put pressure on riders with higher than budgeted fare increases or additional taxes on residents.

“These unions represent the highest paid workers of any railroad in the nation, yet they are demanding contracts that could raise fares as much as 8%, pit workers against one another, and risk tax hikes for Long Islanders,” Hochul said in a statement.

The average hourly wage for LIRR engineers is $49.92, 7% higher than the industry norm, according to the Empire Center for Public Policy, a nonprofit group that promotes free-market principles. LIRR engineers earned an average of $160,000 with overtime in 2025, according to Empire Center.

Still, the striking workers are skilled employees providing an essential service. They haven’t had a raise in nearly four years and are seeking to match their pay with inflation.

“We are truly sorry that we’re in this situation,” Kevin Sexton, national vice president at the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, told reporters after midnight on Friday. “These riders, they’re our friends, our neighbors, they live in our communities. We understand the service that the Long Island Rail Road provides this region. This is a truly unfortunate situation, but this is why you have to take collective bargaining seriously.”

The unions are seeking a raise for this year that’s 5%, or close to it. The MTA on Friday offered close to 4.5%, but it would require new employees to pay a higher contribution to their health insurance than what existing workers pay. Union leaders have balked at any proposals that include changes to work rules or benefits to help pay for a higher salary boost.

Messier Commutes

Even suspending service on the weekend is a major disruption. More people are using LIRR for weekend travel than before the pandemic. Average weekend ridership in 2025 was 267,567, up from 210,313 in 2019, a nearly 30% jump, according to a report last month from Thomas DiNapoli, the state comptroller.

For those who rely on LIRR to get to work, the shutdown will make that commute even longer.

Rochel Ramirez, who lives in Bayside and works at Mount Sinai Hospital, said the strike will more than double her one-hour commute time.

Ramirez usually leaves the house at 7 a.m. and gets to work an hour later via the LIRR and transferring to the 6-line on the subway. With the strike, Ramirez will have to be out the door before 6 a.m. to take two buses and three subway lines.

“The bus is crazy with the traffic and with the 7-train, you never know,” she said.

After using subways and buses for years, Ramirez switched to the pricier LIRR to save time.

“My rest is more important, so even though I end up spending $20 back and forth instead of $6 back and forth, it’s fine with me because I’m so tired,” she said.

A monthly pass on the LIRR can cost as much as $487.75, depending on the itinerary. The MTA expects to issue prorated refunds to May monthly ticket holders for business days when there is no LIRR service.

–With assistance from Ira Iosebashvili.

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