The Long Island Rail Road will hire an independent examiner to review its safeguards against abuse of the railroad's disability pension system, under an agreement that all but concludes an 18-month state investigation of the extraordinarily high rate of claims by employees of the commuter line. The investigation by Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo began in 2008 after The New York Times reported that virtually every career employee of the railroad applied for and got disability payments soon after retirement, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. The disability claims are paid by the Railroad Retirement Board, a federal agency. But despite subpoenas of doctors, insurance companies, railroad executives and every worker who retired in 2009, Cuomo's office brought just one criminal case, and that was dropped last month. In fact, the agreement, announced Monday, appears to echo reform measures the railroad undertook shortly after The Times' report. At the time, the railroad beefed up ethics training, set up a special unit to act as a watchdog on disability claims and urged workers to report abuse. Under the agreement with Cuomo's office, the railroad will hire an independent examiner to review those measures; 'design a compliance program'; and assess the railroad's monitoring of safety, accidents, injuries and medical problems. Despite the railroad's efforts, the Government Accountability Office reported that as of last April, Long Island Rail Road workers applied for disability at a rate 12 times that of other railroads; that only three doctors handled most of the claims, a clue to potential abuse; and that 64 of 66 claims were approved. The new independent examiner will also study the Railroad Retirement Board's procedures and make recommendations to cut down on bogus disability claims and awards. Robert G.M. Keating, a former prosecutor and judge who headed an advisory panel set up by the railroad, said the issue was not with the railroad or even the Railroad Retirement Board, but with federal law, which sets a low medical bar for disability claims. In addition, the railroad's disability problem is compounded by labor contracts allowing for retirement as early as age 50 on generous terms. Cuomo, in a statement Monday, called the agreement an 'important step' in combating a 'culture of entitlement.' In late 2008, prosecutors from Cuomo's office brought felony charges of official misconduct against Frederick S. Kreuder, a former manager of the railroad's pension office, saying he charged workers $1,000 to coach them in making disability claims. But a judge threw out most of the charges in December, saying his moonlighting may have been unethical but was not illegal. The attorney general's office dropped the case last month in exchange for Kreuder's resignation, payment of a $1,500 penalty and agreement not to work in the public sector. Last October, the attorney general's office sent out 108 subpoenas to people who retired from the railroad recently and were eligible for disability benefits. Responses continue to come in, officials said, but investigators have yet to uncover any crimes. 