LIRR Set Pre-Pandemic Record With Over 300K Riders On Wednesday

LONG ISLAND, NY — The Long Island Rail Road announced its shattered post-pandemic ridership record.

On Wednesday, 301,440 riders took a LIRR train, including approximately 20,000 fans traveling to and from the Ryder Cup via the Farmingdale station.

This follows a summer that saw the LIRR repeatedly break post-pandemic daily ridership records, carrying 298,419 passengers on Wednesday, July 23 and 295,419 passengers on Tuesday, July 22.

Since the beginning of June, the commuter line carried more than 290,000 riders in a day six times, with average monthly ridership for June, July and August in excess of 265,000.

“It’s not that complicated —riders are coming back because we increased service by 40 percent, dramatically improved on-time performance, and delivered world-class terminal environments at Grand Central Madison and Penn Station,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. “Today, the LIRR is carrying more people per day than the entire population of St. Louis—and with the highest customer satisfaction in years.”

Ridership highs reflect the railroad’s increasing customer satisfaction rate and record-breaking on-time performance statistics. Through the first half of the year, 96.6 percent of trains reached their destination on time, the railroad’s best rate in its history outside of pandemic years.

The LIRR saw its busiest seven-day period since the pandemic, with a total of 1.77 million passengers riding between Monday, Aug. 25, and Sunday, Aug. 31.

Overall customer satisfaction with the railroad reached 81 percent in the spring, up five percentage points from the fall of 2024, when it reached 76 percent.

“People are coming back to the LIRR because of the exceptional service, as they know a fantastic customer experience is there for them,” said LIRR President Rob Free. “The highest on-time performance in the railroad’s long history and clean, safe, and comfortable trains that are the best way to travel to everything that Long Island has to offer.”