LIRR Announces Fare Hikes, Discounts To Start In January

LONG ISLAND, NY — Commuters will have to pay more to ride the Long Island Rail Road starting in January.

Monthly and weekly tickets will increase by 4.5 percent. But the LIRR points out that monthly tickets remain lower than pre-COVID and will not exceed $500. All other tickets will see a rise of up to 8 percent, the LIRR announced on Wednesday.

The LIRR is offering a few discounts to cushion the blow of paying more to ride the rails.

"There are two [discounts] that we've been pushing for years, and we're thrilled that the MTA sees the wisdom in those recommendations," Lisa Daglian, Executive Director, Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA (PCAC), said.

One change allows seniors, disabled and Medicare-eligible riders to take advantage of the discount during the morning peak hours.

"It was the only time of day when those riders could not use their discounts," Daglian told Patch.

The Family Fare is expanded to include children ages 5-17 getting a $1 ride when accompanied by a fare-paying adult, even in the morning peak.

"That makes it substantially less expensive than driving," Daglian said.

New to customers starting in 2026 is the Day Pass, which replaces the round-trip ticket option. It will be valid on the day of purchase until 4 a.m. the following day. On weekdays, the Day Pass will cost 10 percent less than two one-way peak tickets.

There is no longer a Ten Trip pass. Instead, the new "pay-as-you-go" discount gives mobile customers a free ride after 10 peak or off-peak trips in 14 days.

"We did raise the concern that there's a loss of the discount on the off-peak for Ten Trip riders," she said.

But overall, Daglian is pleased with discounts that encourage more families to ride the LIRR. She said, though, the MTA can do pilot program thereafter to address any lingering issues.

"While, nobody likes a fare hike, really nobody like service cuts and nobody likes layoffs," Daglian said. "Without these regular increases then we would see much bigger fare hikes at times that we didn't expect them."