Frequently Asked Questions

You can contact the Lost and Found in one of the following ways:

On line - Use the on-line Lost Property Customer Inquiry Form to electronically file your information with the Lost & Found Office. Once complete, you will receive a confirmation email and a Lost Property Customer Inquiry reference number.

In Person - You can visit the Lost & Found Office in person to check for your property. Before you visit the Lost & Found Office, please take the time to complete a Lost Property Customer Inquiry Form.

The LIRR Lost & Found Office is located in Penn Station between Track 16 and Track 17 in the Exit Concourse. 

Public Hours: Weekdays 7:20 AM - 7:20 PM

Closed: Saturday, Sunday and Holidays

Long Island Rail Road has a Lost and Found Recovered Property System in place to help re-unite recovered property with its owner. The process includes completing a Lost Property Inquiry form, and then allowing 5-7 business days for property to be recovered and turned into the Lost & Found Facility. During this process, we ask that our customers be cooperative and patient.

First, make sure that you file an electronic Lost Property Customer Inquiry Form. If there is a potential match with a recovered article in the Lost and Found, then L&F personnel will contact you via the information you have provided. Please complete only one Lost Property Customer Inquiry Form for each occurrence in which you have lost your property.

No. For safety and security reasons Long Island Rail Road employees are not permitted to disrupt the radio communication between Rail Traffic Controllers and the on-board Train Crew.

No. For safety and security reasons customers and members of the general public are not permitted in non-public areas on Long Island Rail Road property. In addition, our train equipment is constantly on the move and chances are that your attempt to recover your property from a train yard would be futile.

Unless the article has been turned into them and they have the article in their immediate possession, the MTA PD will not be able to help search for your property.

Unless the article is immediately turned into the ticket office, all recovered property - whether it's left behind on a train, a platform, a parking lot, a ticket office or in a station waiting area - is sent to the Lost and Found Facility located Penn Station.

Each year nearly 20,000 items are turned into the Long Island Rail Road Lost & Found Facility. All MTA Long Island Rail Road employees are responsible for taking reasonable measures to ensure that articles left behind by customers are secured and placed in non-public area before it eventually reaches the Lost & Found Facility in Penn Station.

• Regardless of where property is lost, all recovered articles are sent to the Penn Station Lost and Found. Once there, L&F personnel will categorize the item, assign a L&F property tag, and then enter the property information into an electronic database.
• If an article is recovered from an in-bound train (to Penn Station) during regular business hours the property will most likely be turned in at the service window or may be deposited into a secure lock box. A designated Customer Service Inspector will check the lock box during regular business hours.
• An Article that is recovered on an outbound train is deposited into a secure lock box. A Customer Service Inspector will remove the article, search the property, and attach a property tag before sending it to the Lost & Found Facility in a secured (locked) mailbag during regular business hours. Unauthorized Long Island Rail Road employees and the general public do not have access to the property in these secure drop boxes.

Perishable items are discarded immediately. All other recovered property will be held in the Lost & Found Facility for a minimum of ninety days from the day it is recovered. In accordance with state property law high value items will be held for longer periods of time.

A customer who finds an article on Long Island Rail Road property should turn it in as quickly as possible. You can either turn the property over to a Long Island Rail Road employee or into the Lost & Found Facility located in Penn Station where you can obtain a receipt for the property.

The vast majority of recovered items are returned within one week. However, there are circumstances when lost articles are not returned to Long Island Rail Road in a timely fashion.

You must come to the Lost and Found to retrieve you lost property. A potential owner must describe the property in detail, may be required to show proof of ownership, must present photo ID, and complete and sign for the return of property.

Yes. Pursuant to state law, an Owner Representative may retrieve property on behalf of the rightful owner. To do so, the owner must first prove the property is theirs, and then provide an authorization letter that states the name of the owner representative, and authorization that allows them to sign for and pick-up the property on their behalf. A copy of the owner's photo ID is needed and the owner's representative will also need to present photo ID that will be photocopied and kept on file in the L&F along with the owner's authorization letter.

Long Island Rail Road personnel will work with the owner to return their property via Fed Ex at the owners expense. Under these circumstances, the customer should provide Long Island Rail Road personnel with a valid credit card or an authorized Fed Ex account number that the L&F can use to process the Fed Ex paperwork. The L&F is not able to handle cash or a check in this situation.