Inside the MTA's Long Island Railroad storm center

February 17, 2013 8:14 PM

The Long Island Rail Road put to use two years of planning during the Feb. 8, 2013 blizzard.

The LIRR started overhauling its snow response plan in 2010, but did not get to use many of its new tools during the mild winter of 2011-2012.

When the Feb. 8 overnight blizzard left snow drifts as high as 4 feet on some train tracks in Suffolk County, the LIRR was ready with a bolstered fleet of snow equipment, new policies and priorities that allowed the railroad to keep trains running even during the height of the storm, and a $1.3 million new situation room from where the entire operation was run.