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300 tickets for unruly drunks on Metro-North, LIRR in 2006

300 tickets for unruly drunks on Metro-North, LIRR in 2006
Hotty Miss  |  by www.newstimeslive.com. All rights reserved. 17.07 | 3:18

May 31 2007 7:47 AM
300 tickets for unruly drunks on Metro-North, LIRR in 2006
NEW YORK (AP) - Almost 1,000 Long Island and Metro-North railroad passengers last year were so drunk they needed medical attention, and about 300 people were ticketed for drinking alcohol and creating disturbances in trains or stations, a newspaper reported today. The statistics, reported by The New York Times, come as a task force debates banning booze on the two commuter railroad lines, to the dismay of many riders.

Thousands of passengers have signed petitions opposing the elimination of what they see as a relaxing ritual, according to the Times. In many cases, drunken riders who needed medical attention apparently imbibed largely or entirely before boarding trains, according to the newspaper, which obtained the statistics from Metropolitan Transportation Authority police. They reported a total of 287 tickets and 994 cases requiring medical help last year.

The LIRR and Metro-North have allowed the sale and consumption of alcohol on trains for decades. Vendors sell beer and wine on train platforms, and commuters sometimes can buy on board some trains. Sales of alcohol on LIRR trains generate $350,000 in annual revenue.

Metro-North's New Haven line features bar cars on some trains, run in conjunction with Connecticut state authorities.

The MTA board created the task force in December, after board member Mitch Pally proposed banning alcohol from the railroads. Pally said he was concerned about drunken driving.

His proposal came amid a spate of accidents in which commuters have fallen through gaps between platforms and trains. In one deadly case, a Minnesota teenager was killed when she fell through a gap at an LIRR platform in August 2006. Authorities said her blood-alcohol level was 0.

23 percent, nearly three times the legal driving limit. Pally's proposal has met opposition from the Connecticut Transportation Department, which sees the Metro-North bar cars as "a valuable service to our customers," according to the department's rail administrator, Gene Colonese. Some passengers also have spoken out against the potential booze ban, even forming a group called Commuters Allied for Responsible Enjoyment.

Richard Shea, one of the group's founders, is loath to part with the possibility of a beer on his way home from his job as a public relations executive. "It's one of the things that makes this slog north or east palatable," said Shea, who rides Metro-North trains to and from his home in Chappaqua, in Westchester County.

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Keywords: Metro North, New York
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