Metro-North, LIRR Declare War on Seat Hogs

Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road are on the lookout for seat hogs.    

Officials for both railroads say they are committed to providing seats for all their riders. They will scold anyone who takes up more than one seat. And they plan to add cars on overcrowded trains.      

The railroads say the goal of their "pledge to riders'' is to ensure that every rider gets a seat, according to The New York Post.      

Anyone who places bags or feet on an empty seat will be reprimanded and ordered to make room.

Meanwhile, the Metro-North Railroad has usurped the LIRR has the nation's largest commuter railway.

MTA figures show the LIRR, for the third straight year, carried fewer riders in 2011 than it did the previous year. Ridership dropped to almost 81 million, from 81.4 million in 2010.      

Metro-North's ridership last year grew 1.4 percent to 82 million.      

LIRR President Helena Williams said Long Island's struggle to climb out of the recession was partly to blame for the drop in ridership, reports Newsday.      
Last week, state labor statistics showed that Long Island had nearly 10,000 few jobs in December than it had a year ago.      

Williams said the LIRR has posted gains in the past four months.