A MARATHON day of negotiations that finished early this morning failed to end a strike that shut down the Long Island Rail Road, North America’s largest commuter rail system.

Unions representing rail workers and the Metropolitan Transportation Agency (MTA), which runs the railroad, negotiated through much of Sunday and early Monday after some prodding from the National Mediation Board and New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

The two sides failed to agree, but the talks went well enough that negotiators agreed to return to talks this morning, according to a spokesperson for union workers. 

The negotiations lasted so long that even a deal could not have saved this morning’s commute because of the time needed to get crews and trains in place.

Earlier on Sunday, Governor Hochul appeared with the MTA’s chief executive and said they were ready to do whatever was necessary to help talks along as a strike continued for a second day.

“We all know that the railroad is the lifeblood of Long Island. Without it, life as we know it is simply not possible. The bottom line is, no-one wins in a strike. Everyone is hurt,” she said. 

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Transportation Communications Union said in a statement that the union workers “are not asking for special treatment, they are simply fighting to keep up with the skyrocketing cost of living in the New York region after years without a raise.”

Workers went on strike just after midnight on Saturday morning after five unions representing about half its workforce walked off the job for the first time in three decades.

The unions and the MTA have been negotiating a new contract since 2023, with talks stalled over workers’ salaries and healthcare premiums.

The LIRR serves hundreds of thousands of commuters along 118 miles that includes Brooklyn and Queens in New York City and the Hamptons.