LIRR To Return To Normal Thursday Morning In Wake Of Freight Train Derailment
NEW CASSEL, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — The Long Island Rail Road announced late Wednesday that it will be back to a normal schedule for the Thursday morning rush, nearly two days after a freight train derailment in New Cassel.
As CBS2's Valerie Castro reported, repairs went on late into the night Wednesday at the scene of the derailment. In the late night hours, the LIRR said crews had cleared both derailed freight cars that had been blocking one of the two tracks for trains operating on the Ronkonkoma and Port Jefferson lines.
For most of the day Wednesday, service was been suspended in both directions between Hicksville and Mineola for most of the day, CBS2's Dave Carlin reported. Crews met the goal of restoring service for the evening rush, but about a third of the LIRR evening rush trains were canceled in the aftermath of the derailment, which happened Tuesday afternoon.
Crews have been working to clear the freight cars and repair and rebuild the track that was damaged when two of the train's 16 cars toppled over Tuesday, spilling construction debris.
LIRR Delays Persist For Evening Rush Due To Freight Train Derailment
"One of the two derailed freight cars is still blocking one of the two tracks that are shared by trains of the Ronkonkoma Branch and Port Jefferson Branch. As a result, the LIRR will be able to operate trains over only one of its usual two tracks between Carle Place and Hicksville. Other branches will be impacted as well, as the railroad works systemwide to readjust its equipment and available train slots within this operating constraint," the LIRR said in a statement.
"The amount of damage is a couple hundred feet of track and third rail," LIRR President Patrick Nowakowski said. "The cars, when they derailed, the train was moving so they got drug for a while, and that's what damaged the track for that couple hundred feet."
LIRR Delays Continue Following Freight Train Derailment Near Hicksville Station
As CBS2's Janelle Burrell reported, the departure boards were filled with delays and cancellations Wednesday morning -- nearly a third of all LIRR trains were canceled then too -- leaving platforms packed with people and customers growing frustrated.
LIRR commuters were frustrated from the beginning of the workday to the end.
"For the money we pay, it's a nightmare," one commuter told WCBS 880 Long Island Bureau Chief Mike Xirinachs.
"What are we supposed to do? This is the way we get into the city, so we're stuck with it," another man said.
One of the countless commuters in Hicksville trying to head into Manhattan was Sylvian Gagne, of Kings Park. He was confused, fed up and so late for work, after sitting on a train for 2 1/2 hours, that he called for a friend to take him back home.
"We understand accident happens, but provide us with some sort of service that we can get home or we can get to work with," he added. "It's ridiculous. We pay a lot of money for our tickets."
Said another man: "Frustrated is not the word right now. We're all stranded right here. What about people who have jobs who might not have a job if they can't get there?"
And when trains did finally arrive?
"Sardine can," a man said. "Look at all the people -- overflowing. You can't even get on the train."
LIRR Crews Work To Repair Damaged Track
During the service suspension, many who had destinations many miles away down the line had to get off at Mineola and wait for shuttle buses.
Martin Reisert's day had started in San Diego. A flight home from California was followed by the LIRR train from Penn Station, and he was already on the train before he learned about the main line shut down in both directions between Mineola and Hicksville. So he was stuck taking a bus too.
"A boat ride and a walk and I'd be all right," Reisert said.
The reason the LIRR suspended service was to have trains back up and running in time for the evening rush. They succeeded, but LIRR spokesman Sal Arena called the repairs "time-consuming."
LIRR Crews Work To Repair Damaged Track
"A lot of the equipment they use is hand equipment -- they use pitchforks, they use shovels," he told 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera.
Indeed, dozens of railroad workers – some with pitchforks – were seen throughout the day clearing and fixing hundreds of feet of track, in a race against time as the evening rush approached.
"I don't have to be somewhere immediately, but I can see this would be a stressful situation for most people," said Danielle Cedillo of Plainview.
Cedillo took the shuttle bus, but others found that means of transportation too unsavory and called for backup – last-minute rides which clogged up the roads.
"I called my cousin Jackie -- she came to pick me up," said Mike Mira of Hicksville.
While service had been restored all along the LIRR Wednesday night, eastbound trains were bypassing the Carle Place and Westbury stops.
Many commuters said the current situation with the LIRR is not acceptable.
"It's funny, because it's my fourth week on a new job in the city, and within the last three weeks, this is the third problem I've had with the LIRR," said Anthony Tarantino of Bethpage.
"For the $300 I pay a month I don't think this is really good service and a bunch of nonsense, how frustrating is that?" added commuter Robert Oven. "It's beyond, beyond frustrating."
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