Summer of Hell: LIRR commute was relatively smooth

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - LIRR commuter John Tomecek's prediction on how long it'd take to get to Penn Station from Mineola was near perfect and so was our commute into the city on Monday morning.

"There's no way you can tell me I can get into Manhattan in less than an hour every day consistently no matter the weather is more than by taking the train," John said. "I'll probably get to work maybe 10 minutes later than normal." 

We ended up arriving three minutes late last week. Now with the repair work underway, we took the same 7:24 a.m. to compare. 

The LIRR is running on a modified schedule through August as Amtrak makes critical track repairs at Penn Station. The system has been plagued by a series of high-profile meltdowns including derailments and power outages.

Four people were standing in our car but that was one of the only noticeable differences.

Employees with the MTA were stationed inside Penn Station to help direct riders. While there was a rush of people at some points, overall no major problems were reported.

Many riders keeping an eye on the evening commute and that September 1 deadline when Amtrak expects the work to be finished.