Delays and crowded trains stymied commuters on the Long Island Rail Road on Tuesday as crews worked to fix the damage caused by an electrical fire at a switching station.
The fire late Monday morning halted service for four hours and disrupted the evening commute. Delays stretched into Tuesday morning, when 33 westbound trains were canceled. "Right now I'm wondering if I'm going to get a seat and I'm wondering if we're going to get in on time,'' said Rob Franco, a structural engineer from Smithtown waiting for a train at the Farmingdale station.
Accountant Sophia Bentley seemed resigned to wait as long as it would take.
"They should have more up-to-date systems in place but what ar you going to do?'' she asked. "I'm going to get on the next one that gets here. Whenever I get one, I get one.''
But even if your train is running, expect serious delays, transit officials said.
The LIRR released this service plan Tuesday afternoon:
Tuesday PM Service Plan – Aug. 24 – Eastbound & Westbound
The LIRR’s modified PM Service Plan for Tuesday provides about 66% of the LIRR’s regular 127 trains during the evening rush hour (between 4 PM and 8 PM). Customers are advised to expect canceled trains, and delays. Customers will be able to exit or board trains at Jamaica Station, however trains making scheduled stops at Jamaica will not be held for scheduled connections from Penn Station, Atlantic Terminal, Hunterspoint Avenue, and Long Island City. LIRR station personnel will be available at Jamaica to assist customers with service information.
Local
To avoid overcrowding at Penn Station and Jamaica, MTA Police will carefully monitor and regulate, if necessary, the number of people entering the LIRR section of Penn Station and/or Jamaica Station, allowing customers access as trains become available.
LIRR station personnel are available at Penn Station, Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn and Jamaica Station to assist customers with service information. The LIRR appreciates the patience and understanding of our customers.
Eastbound Service Plan
Regular service will be offered to Port Washington, so customers may want to consider taking that branch if they can make alternate arrangements for the remainder of their trip home.
Aside from the regular Port Washington service, the evening rush hour service from Penn Station will consist of dedicated trains making local stops to Huntington/Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma/Greenport, Long Beach, Babylon and Montauk.
LIRR is will be offering Hempstead and Far Rockaway-bound trains only from Atlantic Terminal in downtown Brooklyn, which can be reached by subway. There will be no Hempstead and Far Rockaway service from Penn Station.
LIRR customers are also advised of service changes if heading for the following destinations as detailed below:
· Oyster Bay: Travel to Mineola for connections to all Oyster Bay branch stops.
· West Hempstead: Travel to Valley Stream where buses will be available to take them onto to their home stations.
· Patchogue, Speonk and Montauk: Customers can connect to those trains at Babylon.
There is no train service between Valley Stream and West Hempstead – bus service will be provided for train service at Valley Stream.
There will be no eastbound train service from St. Albans, bus service will be provided between St. Albans and Jamaica.
Eastbound PM Peak Service Train Cancellations for Tuesday, Aug. 24:
The following eastbound PM Rush trains will be canceled tonight (Tuesday, August 24) in the modified service plan:
Long Beach Branch:
The 4:15 PM from NY due in Long Beach 5:08 PM.
The 5:00 PM from NY due in Long Beach 5:55 PM.
The 5:55 PM from NY due in Long Beach 6:51 PM.
Hempstead Branch
The 4:32 PM from NY due in Hempstead 5:23 PM.
The 5:04 PM from NY due in Hempstead 5:57 PM.
The 5:38 PM from NY due in Hempstead 6:36 PM.
The 5:51 PM from NY due in Hempstead 6:46 PM.
The 6:39 PM from NY due in Hempstead 7:33 PM.
The 7:05 PM from NY due in Hempstead 7:56 PM.
Far Rockaway Branch
The 4:42 PM from NY due in Far Rockaway 5:40 PM.
The 5:32 PM from NY due in Far Rockaway 6:24 PM.
The 6:02 PM from NY due in Far Rockaway 6:58 PM.
The 4:18 PM from Hunterspoint Avenue due in Oyster Bay 5:30 PM.
The 6:00 PM from Jamaica due in Oyster Bay 6:58 PM.
Babylon Branch
The 3:34 PM from NY due in Wantagh 4:29 PM.
The 4:04 PM from NY due in Babylon at 5:05 PM.
The 4:16 PM from Atlantic Terminal due in Babylon at 5:28 PM.
The 4:34 PM from NY due in Babylon at 5:39 PM.
The 4:52 PM from NY due in Babylon at 5:55 PM.
The 5:19 PM from NY due in Wantagh at 6:06 PM.
The 5:40 PM from NY due in Seaford at 6:30 PM.
The 6:05 PM from NY due in Wantagh at 6:51 PM.
The 6:33 PM from NY due in Babylon at 7:35 PM.
The 7:41 PM from NY due in Babylon at 8:55 PM.
Port Washington Branch
The 5:11 PM from NY due in Port Washington at 5:47 PM
The 5:50 PM from NY due in Great Neck at 6:19 PM
Ronkonkoma Branch
The 4:34 PM from Atlantic Terminal due Ronkonkoma 5:57 PM
The 7:11 PM from NY due Ronkonkoma 8:33 PM.
Port Jefferson Branch
The 5:47 PM from Hunterspoint Ave. due in Port Jefferson at 7:30 PM
The 6:08 PM from Hunterspoint Ave. due in Port Jefferson at 8:00 PM
Huntington
The 3:27 PM from NY due in Huntington at 4:33 PM
The 4:01 PM from NY due in Huntington at 5:07 PM
The 5:06 PM from NY due in Huntington at 6:07PM
The 5:29 PM from Atlantic Terminal due in Huntington at 6:28 PM
The 6:56 PM from NY due in Huntington at 8:04 PM
Hicksville
The 5:33 PM from NY due Hicksville 6:29 PM.
The 6:01 PM from NY due Hicksville 6:45 PM.
The 6:35 PM from NY due Hicksville 7:22 PM.
West Hempstead Branch
The 4:20 PM from Atlantic Terminal due in West Hempstead 5:06 PM.
The 5:06 PM from Atlantic Terminal due in West Hempstead 5:53 PM.
The 5:35 PM from Atlantic Terminal due in West Hempstead 6:22 PM.
The 6:18 PM from Atlantic Terminal due in West Hempstead 7:07 PM.
The 7:23 PM from Atlantic Terminal due in West Hempstead 8:10 PM.
Hunterspoint Avenue
Note: the following canceled trains from Hunterspoint Avenue are included in the
branch listings above):
The 4:18 PM from Hunters Point Avenue due in Oyster Bay 5:30 PM.
The 5:29 PM from Hunterspoint Ave. due in Ronkonkoma at 6:45 PM
The 5:47 PM from Hunterspoint Ave. due in Port Jefferson at 7:30 PM
The 6:08 PM from Hunterspoint Ave. due in Port Jefferson at 8:00 PM.
Westbound Service Plan
Westbound (Reverse Peak) Service:
LIRR westbound, reverse peak service to Atlantic Terminal and Penn Station is expected to operate at regularly scheduled times; however customers should anticipate delays en-route.
There is no train service between Valley Stream and West Hempstead – bus service will be provided for train service at Valley Stream.
There is no westbound train service from Jamaica to Locust Manor, Laurelton and Rosedale, bus service will be provided.
Westbound (Reverse Peak) Train Cancellations for Tues., Aug. 24:
West Hempstead Branch Westbound cancellations:
The 4:02 PM from West Hempstead due in Atlantic Terminal 4:47 PM.
The 5:48 PM from Jamaica due in Atlantic Terminal 6:06 PM.
The 6:30 PM from West Hempstead due in Jamaica 6:56 PM.
Hempstead Branch Westbound cancellations:
The 5:41 PM from Hempstead due Penn Station at 6:33 PM.
The 8:01 PM from Hempstead due Atlantic Terminal at 8:55 PM.
Port Washington Branch Westbound cancellation:
The 6:44 PM from Great Neck due Penn Station at 7:15 PM.
Service Updates:
The LIRR will continue to provide updated Service Advisories as repairs progress. Customers should monitor news media reports and the LIRR’s website (at www.mta.info/lirr) for these updates.
For up-to-date travel service information, customers can also contact the LIRR’s 24-hour Travel Information Center in Suffolk County at 631-231-LIRR, in Nassau County at 516-822-LIRR or in New York City at 718-217-LIRR. The Travel Information Center’s TDD telephone number for the hearing impaired is 718-558-3022.
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