Every LIRR trip page on this site shows two one-way prices where the operator publishes two: a peak fare and an off-peak fare. Which one you pay depends on the train, not on when you bought the ticket. This guide explains the rule and its exceptions, so the numbers on a trip page make sense.
What makes a train peak
A peak train is a weekday train scheduled to arrive at a New York terminal between 6:00 and 10:00 AM, or to leave one between 4:00 and 8:00 PM. The terminals are Penn Station, Grand Central Madison and Atlantic Terminal, together with Hunterspoint Avenue and Long Island City where trains serve them. The scheduled time decides it: a train due in at 9:58 is peak even if it arrives at 10:05.
Everything else is off-peak. That includes every train on Saturday, Sunday and the holidays the LIRR lists, weekday trains outside those windows, and weekday trains in the reverse direction. A train leaving Penn Station at 8 AM is not a peak train, because peak in the morning is defined by arrivals into the city.
Trips with no peak fare
If neither end of your trip is in the city, there is no peak surcharge. The LIRR publishes one price for travel entirely within zones 4 to 14. On this site those pairs show a single fare and the trip page says so: the two-price rule only appears when a Manhattan or Brooklyn terminal, or another zone 1 or zone 3 station, is one end.
LIRR fare zones
| Zone | Stations | Busiest stations in the zone |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Penn Station, Woodside, Grand Central, Atlantic Terminal, East New York and 6 more |
| 3 | 14 | Jamaica, Bayside, Little Neck, Douglaston, Auburndale and 9 more |
| 4 | 30 | Mineola, Valley Stream, Lynbrook, Great Neck, Floral Park and 25 more |
| 7 | 29 | Hicksville, Massapequa, Freeport, Wantagh, Bellmore and 24 more |
| 9 | 11 | Babylon, Huntington, Amityville, Deer Park, Wyandanch and 6 more |
| 10 | 15 | Ronkonkoma, Central Islip, Brentwood, Patchogue, Sayville and 10 more |
| 12 | 4 | Speonk, Bellport, Mastic-Shirley, Yaphank-BNL |
| 14 | 11 | Hampton Bays, Southampton, Amagansett, East Hampton, Bridgehampton and 6 more |
Reading a trip page
The hero strip on a trip page shows the peak fare first and the off-peak fare beside it. The paragraph below it tells you which direction the page describes. On an inbound page the peak window is the morning arrival window; on the outbound page for the same two stations it is the evening departure window. That is why the two pages for a pair say different things about the same fare.
Reduced fares and passes
Senior, disabled and Medicare fares are reduced but are not valid on weekday morning peak trains into the city; a rider with one takes a train due in after 10 AM or pays the full peak fare. Weekly and monthly tickets are valid on every train, peak included, between the two zones printed on them. The break-even rows on each trip page show how many one-way peak rides a weekly or monthly ticket equals.
Where this comes from
The fares are read from the MTA's published LIRR station fare chart, and the peak definition is the MTA's. Fares are revised from time to time; the effective date of the chart in use is printed on every trip page. For a ticket, use the MTA TrainTime app or a station machine, since buying on board costs more. See how fares and zones work for all four networks.
Updated 21 Sep 2026 · operator fare rules and schedule feeds
The LIRR prices a ticket by the fare zone you start in and the zone you end in. There are eight zones in use: 1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 12 and 14. Zone 1 is the Manhattan and Brooklyn terminals, Penn Station, Grand Central Madison and Atlantic Terminal, together with the stations nearest them. The zone numbers climb as you travel east, so a longer trip crosses more zones and costs more.
Peak fares apply on weekday trains scheduled to arrive at a New York terminal between 6:00 and 10:00 AM, or to leave one between 4:00 and 8:00 PM. Every other train, and every train on a weekend or holiday, is off-peak. Trips that stay entirely within zones 4 to 14, with neither end in the city, cost the same on every train.
Tickets are sold in the MTA TrainTime app, at station ticket machines and windows, and on board. Buying on board costs more than buying before you get on. Senior, disabled and Medicare fares are reduced and are not valid on weekday morning peak trains into New York. Weekly and monthly tickets cover unlimited travel between two zones for the period and are the usual choice for a five-day commute. The monthly pass break-even shown on each trip page is that pass price divided by the one-way peak fare, rounded up.