LIRR Delays To Continue For Wednesday's Commutes
NEW YORK (CBS 2/WCBS 880/1010 WINS/AP) -- The Long Island Rail Road is advising customers to brave yet another day of delays and schedule changes for Wednesday's morning and evening commutes.
The LIRR said Tuesday that "while the Wednesday a.m. rush service plan includes cancellation of 33 westbound a.m. rush hour trains, the LIRR will be running 75 percent of the 144 trains that normally operate."
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However, customers are being told they should expect delays because of added station stops.
For the very latest information visit the LIRR website here
"Customers will be able to exit or board trains at Jamaica Station, however trains stopping at Jamaica will not be held for scheduled connections to and from Penn Station, Atlantic Terminal, Hunterspoint Avenue, and Long Island City," the LIRR said.
Here are westbound AM Rush trains that will be canceled Wednesday:
Port Jefferson Branch
The 5:59 AM Port Jefferson train due in Hunterspoint Ave at 7:41 AM
The 6:45 AM Port Jefferson train due in Hunterspoint Ave at 8:30 AM
Huntington
The 6:38 AM Huntington train due in Atlantic Terminal at 7:36 AM
The 7:12 AM Huntington train due in Penn Station at 8:10 AM
The 7:28 AM Cold Spring Harbor train due in Penn Station at 8:25 AM
Hicksville
The 6:25 AM Hicksville train due in Penn Station at 7:11 AM
Ronkonkoma Branch
The 7:04 AM Ronkonkoma train due in Penn Station at 8:19 AM
The 7:19 AM Ronkonkoma train due in Penn Station at 8:28 AM
The 6:57 AM Farmingdale train due in Penn Station at 7:48 AM
Babylon Branch
The 6:57 AM Freeport train due in Penn Station at 7:40 AM
The 7:29 AM Freeport train due in Penn Station at 8:13 AM
The 8:08 AM Freeport train due in Penn Station at 8:50 AM
The 8:25 AM Freeport train due in Penn Station at 9:08 AM
The 6:15 AM Babylon train due in Atlantic Terminal at 7:27 AM
The 8:16 AM Babylon train due in Penn Station at 9:31 AM
The 8:35 AM Babylon train due in Penn Station at 9:37 AM
The 5:18 AM Wantagh train due in Penn Station at 6:08 AM
Long Beach Branch
The 6:54 AM Long Beach train due in Atlantic Terminal 7:49 AM
The 8:03 AM Long Beach train due in Penn Station at 8:54 AM
Hempstead Branch
The 6:58 AM Hempstead train due in Penn Station at 7:52 AM
The 6:21 AM Hempstead train due in Atlantic Terminal at 7:08 AM
The 8:45 AM Hempstead train due in Atlantic Terminal at 9:34 AM
Far Rockaway Branch
The 8:03 AM Valley Stream train due in Penn Station at 8:42 AM
The 8:10 AM Far Rockaway train due in Penn Station at 9:05 AM
The 7:18 AM Far Rockaway train due in Atlantic Terminal at 8:11 AM
Montauk Branch
The 7:12 AM Speonk train due in Hunterspoint Ave at 9:11 AM
Oyster Bay Branch
The 6:29 AM train from Oyster Bay due in Jamaica at 7:24 AM
The 7:41 AM train from Oyster Bay due in Hunterspoint Avenue at 8:55 AM
West Hempstead Branch
The 5:37 AM train from West Hempstead due in Valley Stream at 5:52 AM
The 6:53 AM train from West Hempstead due in Atlantic Terminal at 7:41 AM
The 7:16 AM train from West Hempstead due in Atlantic Terminal at 8:03 AM
The 7:36 AM train from West Hempstead due in Penn Station at 8:29 AM
The 8:28 AM train from West Hempstead due in Atlantic Terminal at 9:16 AM
Eastbound AM service is expected to operate at regularly schedule times, but customers should expect delays, the agency said.
As far as Eastbound PM service is concerned, the LIRR is advising the following:
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.
Customers are advised to board trains that do not require a change at Jamaica. LIRR is 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.
The following eastbound PM Rush trains will be canceled Wednesday:
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
Oyster Bay Branch
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 5:47 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
MTA Long Island Rail Road President Helena E. Williams issued a statement of apology Tuesday, acknowledging that Monday was a "difficult and trying day for customers."
Williams said she wanted "to apologize for the delays and inconvenience customers endured" and added that employees were working "diligently around the clock to restore service...until the entire signal and switch system is operational."
Williams also defended the agency's use of what is called the "modelboard 14," and the technology that is nearly a century old.
"We're not the only railroad to still use the modelboard 14. It is very mechanical.�� I will say the good news is it's reliable," Williams said.
Despite those words of assurance, some commuters still had concerns.
"I think it's a real shame that for the money we're paying, that the infrastructure is in such shoddy repair," Sima Casillo told CBS 2's Sean Hennessey.
Transit expert Robert Paaswell said the LIRR isn't alone in ignoring the calls of technology.
"New Yorkers -- both the state and local governments -- have under-invested in public transit for too many years and the chickens are coming home to roost," Paaswell said.
On Tuesday, commuters endured a second straight day of service interruptions. Some said things weren't as bad as they could have been.
"It was great. There was no problem in the morning and I had no problem this evening," Noel Leff said.
Others, however, were not so lucky.
"I was over an hour late to work this morning, unexpectedly. I even budgeted more time and tried to take an earlier train and that train was canceled once I got to the station," James Ballow said.
LIRR says station personnel will be available at Jamaica to assist customers with service information again Wednesday.
For the very latest information regarding schedule changes and delays, you can visit the LIRR's website here.
