Long Island Rail Road has reported its third straight year of declining on-time performance.

According to a report issued by the railroad company, on-time performance was at 92.2-percent in 2005, down from 92.7-percent in 2004. LIRR experienced its best on-time performance in 2002, reaching 94-percent.

"We can do better and we make it a primary focus," LIRR Transportation Chief Ray Kenny said last week. "We know through our customer satisfaction survey that the customers place this at a high value."

This year's goal is 94.3 percent. A train is considered on time if it arrives at its destination within five minutes and 59 seconds of its scheduled arrival.

Bringing down the performance was the Ronkonkoma Line at 86.9-percent, while the West Hempstead Line recorded a 95.8-percent on-time record. Much of the Ronkonkoma line runs on a single track where one small problem can lead to multiple delays, railroad officials said.

LIRR also noted in their report that a single Amtrak signal problem led to 125 delays alone and the railroad also had to deal with three broken rails in December.