Old LIRR Train Leaving Penn Station in 2023 - MTA LIRR Budd M-3 - March 30

A set of the LIRR's oldest in-service fleet, the 1983-built M-3 back in contingency service in their final full stride. Built by the Budd Company from Philadelphia, PA these commuter railcars are the last unrebuilt Budd-built trains in passenger service anywhere in this world - we do have also Metro North's M-3A fleet although has been refurbished.
These railcars bring out many comments from commuters and have seen some recent operational difficulties due to what appears to be between minor errors from crew during operation and doors won't close or open, train won't take off, as their operations are quite different than an M-7 or M-9.
Crews are also facing a sudden pattern change with equipment where ever since Grand Central / East Side opened, train consists lengths have been inconsistent and have caused confusion among crews where currently many runs could randomly be assigned an 8, 10 or 12-car train to either Grand Central or Penn Station while before LIRR service to Grand Central every run consistently had either a 10 or 12 car consist every day or 8 depending on the run.
These old M-3 railcars will only temporarily serve passengers until next year when enough new M-9 cars can be accepted into service after testing. As of now M-9 acceptance testing has been much behind schedule, allowing more borrowed time for these beloved M-3s however DO make time for them NOW if you plan to as they will be phased out by the end of this year into next year (2023-4). The MTA TrainTime app provides a search bar to track equipment that is in passenger service at that time - type in "97", "98" or "99" and any train that shows up listed below with an LIRR destination is an M-3 assigned for that run. While assigned equipment may always be subject to change, the M-3s seem to stick to their assignments due to them being prohibited from running to Grand Central due to an issue with their traction motors needing enough power to climb the grade, which was once possible years ago however mechanically in their current stage they can no longer run at top speed unless linked into a 10/12-car consist, which is why you will ONLY see 10 or 12-car M-3 consists in service despite the inconsistent M-7 and M-9 train lengths now being assigned to daily runs every other day.
This video was taken on Thursday, March 30, 2023.