2 hours driving each way would be crazy - but to get from where I am on Long Island would take 3 to 4 hours round trip (unless you go very early) to get to say, White Plains. BUT - currently, by LIRR and subway, about 6 hours round trip, though likely about 5 hours if ESA actually opens and doesn't break down. By me, LIRR trains (with transfers) to / from the Pitts of Penn average 30 to 40 mph, then for most jobs I've had over the years take up to an extra half an hour with subway and walking. I used to use the M4 bus to go from Penn up Madison, until TA moved the start / end point to a mid block a long walk on crowded sidewalks from Penn. Q32 does it - but with a long wait between buses.
On LIRR, my inbox gets filled daily with switch, signal and train problems - and that's just for my branch. LIRR and Amtrak's repairs in Penn and the East River tunnels still allow piles of breakdowns, the diesel junk is awful - not enough of it, especially DM's, and what they do have is unreliable. The C3 cars - many seats slope down and out, so you have to brace yourself with your knees against the hard backs of the seats in front. The arm rests dig into your arms - the cushions are fake. The headrests are even worse. And inbound, the only time trains were reasonably on time was when they had to cut way back on access to Penn while they rebuilt the switches - it meant a lot fewer trains in the tunnels (which are crumbling post Sandy).
The subway service at Penn, especially IRT, is, well, unpredictable. I'd be downstairs, and the boards would say next train is express, so I'd rush up, and a local would pull in, and no express for 20 minutes. Etc. The elevators were urine soaked, if they were working. And these days I can't climb steps well.
LIRR is known to many as the Long Island Fail / Snail / Hell Road, etc. My nickname for IRT - Intermittent Rickety Transit. Etc.
About 20 years ago I spent some time working in London. As old as much of their system is, it was far better, though the escalators were iffy. The Jubilee Line extension was excellent, and the now, opening in stages Elizabeth Line is amazing - and all stations have glass platform walls and real time camera systems that actually work and are monitored around the clock. In contrast, even new subway stations here like on the 2nd Ave Stubway and 7th Ave extension have neither. Everything in mass transit in our area has mostly gotten worse over the years, piles of waste and corruption and incompetence, with LIRR leading the way in that regard, Metro North close behind. And NJT was run into the ground by Christie.
