Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he wants the MTA to look into cutting Long Island Rail Road commute times. 

While announcing the results of a study on how some New York City subway trains could speed up, Gov. Cuomo mentioned he wanted the MTA to look at ways to speed up the LIRR trains. He says that driving trains faster could reduce total commute times.

The MTA tells News 12 that the idea of having LIRR trains go faster isn't new. It is something consultants working for the Train Speed Safety Task Force are looking into. But Kevin Sexton from the Engineers Union says it could be challenging or even cost money to redesign the LIRR's tracks to operate trains much faster than they are now.

Sexton says, “I think there's going to be unique challenges on our property. Our system is different than the subway system. Specifically, our stations are very close together, we have numerous grade crossings, and we have a lot of speed restrictions."

The MTA says it plans to announce some recommendations on what can be done to speed up LIRR trains by the end of the year.