Busiest US commuter rail system resumes operations as deal reached to end strike

NEW YORK (AP) — Trains are rolling again on the Long Island Rail Road after a deal was reached to end a strike that had shut down the busiest commuter rail system in the U.S.

The first trains departed from New York City’s two main rail hubs, Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal, shortly after noon Tuesday. Full service was planned in time for the evening rush home from work.

Michele Forrester, who relies on the LIRR to get to her job at a grocery on Long Island, was among the riders with mixed feelings about the apparent resolution to the system’s first walkout since a two-day strike in 1994.

“I just feel like it should not have gotten to this point in the first place,” she said Tuesday afternoon as she waited at the LIRR hub in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens. “With how much they make, it feels like other people are struggling to get by, and they’re talking about getting more money.”

Nya Archie, a filmmaker from Queens headed into Manhattan, said the strike was an important reminder that working people are still vital to making New York possible.

“I’m happy they were able to stop people and make them realize, yes, this is a functioning, running machine, but it’s run by the people above anything,” she said. “And without the people, it’s not gonna move, it’s not gonna work and it’s gonna get uncomfortable. I really liked them making that heard.”

Labor union leaders, meanwhile, began briefing rank-and-file members about the contract terms, said Jamie Horwitz, a spokesperson for the five unions. Voting was expected to take place over the coming days according to each union’s contract ratification process.

Five labor unions representing about half the train system’s workforce went on strike at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, halting service for roughly 250,000 commuters who use the rail system that connects New York City to its eastern suburbs every weekday.

Earlier in the day, morning commuters had muddled through another tough rush hour. Trains weren’t ready for service in time for the commute into work as the agreement was reached late Monday.

The LIRR still urged riders to work from home again Tuesday. Shuttle buses were offered from a handful of locations on Long Island to subway stations in New York City.

Hallie Kessler was among the weary Long Island commuters who welcomed the strike’s end. With the trains out of service, the 24-year old speech therapist commuted three hours home from her job at a public school in the New York City borough of Queens on Monday.

“Obviously I wish trains would be running when peak hours start so I could avoid the long morning commute, but happy to not deal with it in the afternoon when I’m leaving work,” Kessler said. “Curious what the deal says about future fares, which has been a big concern, but we’ll see.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and railroad officials have declined to disclose details of the new contract terms until they are approved by union members. But the Democrat, who is up for reelection, has stressed the deal won’t increase fares or taxes.

Robert Free, president of the LIRR, said Tuesday that the two sides simply “found another way” to make the numbers work.

“There are things in there that make it more affordable, make it more palatable for the unions to agree upon, and make it easier for us to fit within our financial structure,” he said shortly before the first trains departed.

The first impacts of the walkout were felt over the weekend, as baseball fans had to find other ways to get to Citi Field in Queens to see the New York Mets take on their crosstown rivals the New York Yankees.

Hochul said the deal ensures basketball fans won’t meet the same fate as they travel to watch the New York Knicks continue their playoff run on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, which is located directly above the LIRR’s Penn Station hub in Manhattan.

The unions — which represent locomotive engineers, machinists, signalmen and others — and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had been negotiating a new contract since 2023, but talks had stalled over salaries and healthcare.

The unions have said raises were needed to help workers keep up with inflation and the rising cost of living in the New York City area. The MTA had said the union’s initial demands would lead to fare increases and set a difficult precedent for negotiations with other transit unions.

Departure times for Long Island Rail Road trains are displayed in Penn Station, in New York, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Passengers walk to Long Island Rail Road trains in Pennsylvania Station, in New York, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The first departing Long Island Rail Road train leaves Pennsylvania Station, in New York, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Long Island Rail Road employee Sujit Saha helps a passenger find her train at New York's Penn Station, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Long Island Rail Road workers walk on the picket line outside of Penn Station on the third day of their strike, Monday, May 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Workers stand near the Long Island Raill Road ticketing counter in New York's Penn Station, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Rail passengers pass the Long Island Rail Road waiting room in Penn Station, in New York, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Tracks are empty at Mineola train station as Long Island Rail Road workers enter the third day of their strike, Monday, May 18, 2026, in Mineola, N.Y. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Long Island Rail Road workers walk on the picket line outside of Penn Station on the third day of their strike, Monday, May 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Commuters board buses to Long Island outside of the Jamaica–179th Street station as Long Island Rail Road workers enter the third day of their strike, Monday, May 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Long Island Rail Road trains sit in the West Side Yard on the first day of a strike, Saturday, May 16, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

LONDON (AP) — Britain's deputy prime minister said Sunday that he told U.S. Vice President JD Vance he was wrong to blame immigration for the death of a university student who was handcuffed as he lay dying from a stab wound.

David Lammy, who is also the justice minister, said he challenged Vance in what he described as a “robust” phone call on Saturday. Lammy and Vance have struck up a friendship, based on their religious beliefs and family backgrounds, even though they come from different sides of the political spectrum.

“We had an agreeable conversation because we have got a relationship, but I wanted to make him clear that I disagree with some of the facts that he was asserting and to present the facts to him," Lammy told Sky News.

The call came a day after Vance said in a post on social platform X that there should be “righteous anger” in response to the murder of Henry Nowak, 18, who died in December after being stabbed by Vickrum Digwa in the English city of Southampton.

Digwa, who is Sikh, falsely claimed to police he was the victim of a racist assault by Nowak, who was white. When police officers arrived, they initially treated the wounded man as a suspect before noticing his injury and trying to resuscitate him.

Vance appeared to blame the murder in part on “the mass invasion of migrants, many of whom despise the West and the people who love it.”

Lammy said he wanted to “emphasize a number of things” to Vance, including that the killer was British and is now behind bars.

"This has got nothing to do with mass migration," Lammy said.

Digwa, 23, was convicted of murder for stabbing Nowak with an 8-inch (21 centimeter) Sikh dagger and sentenced this week to life in prison with a minimum 21-year term.

The case has been seized on by anti-immigration activists and politicians in the U.K. On Tuesday, police in Southampton were pelted with chairs, cans, rocks and flares after a demonstration over Nowak’s death attended by far-right figures and others.

In a statement issued Friday in response to Vance's comments, Prime Minister Keir Starmer 's office criticized people “trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division on our streets.”

The Independent Office for Police Conduct, which investigates allegations of police wrongdoing, is probing the actions of police officers on the scene.

The victim’s father, Mark Nowak, has said the case was not about racism or religion, and that he wanted his son’s death to lead to safer streets and not to be used to create “further division, hatred or tension.”

Lammy also said he told Vance “it’s not helpful to tweet in this way, partly because of what the Nowak family have asked for, and reminded him about their desire not to make this an issue of division and hatred, but to make this an issue of common sense.”

FILE - Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy, right, and US Vice President JD Vance fish in a lake in the grounds of Chevening House in Kent, England, Aug. 8, 2025. (Suzanne Plunkett/Pool via AP, File)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks as he visits STARK, a leading defence tech company in Swindon, England, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, Pool)

People gather to protest outside Southampton police station, Southampton, England, Tuesday June 2, 2026, after the fatal stabbing of Henry Nowak, a British teenager who was handcuffed despite claiming he was the crime victim. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP)

In this image taken from PA Video, police and protestors clash during a protest following the death of Henry Nowak, a 18-year-old student stabbed to death with a Sikh kirpan ceremonial by Vickrum Digwa, in Southampton, England, Tuesday June 2, 2026. (Jamie Lashmar/PA via AP)

Vice President JD Vance speaks with reporters upon arriving on Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, Pool)