Instead, commuters once again had to rely on shuttle buses, providing 13,000 seats from six locations on Long Island for the morning commute.
LIRR train service started back up again at noon, but only on the four electrified branches - the Babylon, Huntington, Port Washington and Ronkonkoma branches.
All branches, those that use electric as well as diesel trains, resumed normal weekday schedule at 4 p.m. -- in time for the ride home and to bring fans to Tuesday night's Knicks game.
MTA officials had hoped to have service restored for the morning commute, but negotiations with the five LIRR unions, representing 3,500 employees, dragged on into Monday night.
The strike ended at midnight, and several steps had to be completed to get the LIRR's fleet of about 1,300 trains out of the yards and back into service.
Crew dispatchers had to first call workers back, who had to be assigned to trains, which needed to be repositioned for the morning commute. And tracks needed to be inspected per federal guidelines before they could be used again.
The deal gives workers a four-year contact with a six-week extension and annual raises of 3%, 3%, 3.5% and 4.5% in the final year. It also includes a $3,000 lump sum payment and full retroactive pay. The unions had demanded 5% in the final year, but settled for the lump sum, instead.
The union must bring it to the rank and file to ratify. The union believes the agreement will be passed.
"If we didn't think that it would be ratifiable, we would still be at the bargaining table," Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Vice President Kevin Sexton said.
Despite the MTA's dire warnings about higher taxes and staggering fare increases, Gov. Kathy Hochul insisted the new contract will require neither.
"I was not going to allow taxes or fares to go up. That's why we stood firm for a deal that would not require any additional fare increases or tax increases, period," she said.
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