Rush-hour chaos sweeps New York after busiest rail system shutdown

A strike on the busiest rail system has caused travel chaos for thousands of New York commuters during rush hour on Monday morning, as rail workers returned to the negotiating table with transportation officials.

At New York's Penn Station - where roughly 600,000 people pass through a typical day - it was eerily quiet as commuters scrambled to figure out ways to reach their destinations.

"There are no trains," said Brooklyn resident Mekan Esenov, who was trying to get to a Long Island airport. "We looked at Uber, but it's like $250."

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Agency is offering free shuttle buses in the city for some routes, but has warned of "severe congestion and delays".

The strike is expected to affect roughly 250,000 weekday riders on the trains servicing New York's eastern suburbs and Long Island's famous beaches that stretch from the city out to the Hamptons and Montauk.

Unions representing about 3,500 workers on the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) launched their strike on Saturday after failing to reach a deal with rail management over pay and work rules.

Negotiations with MTA resumed on Sunday and Monday after New York Governor Kathy Hochul urged both sides to return to talks.

A federal labour agency stepped in on Sunday to help resume the bargaining over the first strike on the LIRR in over 30 years.

The unions say they are seeking improved pay and work conditions after years without wage increases.

In Midtown Manhattan, LIRR union workers gathered to protest on Monday morning. They marched in a circle calling for fair wages, a fair contract and "dignity".

A union representative from the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, who had been leading his fellow picketers in a chant at the Jamaica, Queens LIRR station, told the BBC he and other union members would rather be at work today.

"We're hardworking men and women," Olivier Desinor said. "It's not one of the best positions we want to be in, but, thankfully, we're together in solidarity, and we're gonna get through this."

Unions have been asking for a wage increase of five percent for the next year of their contract, which begins in June.

The MTA had offered a 3% raise with options that could bring it up to 4.5%, according to the BBC's US partner CBS News.

On Sunday, Hochul defended the transportation authority and said New York was a "pro-labour state".

"We believe in working men and women receiving a fair wage and benefits, but the MTA cannot agree to a contract that would raise fares as much as 8% and risk hiking taxes for Long Islanders," she said.