MTA Long Island Rail Road weekend track work crews will continue to be out in force along the Babylon Branch replacing concrete railroad ties between Rockville Centre and Merrick for seven upcoming weekend days, April 29-30, May 6-7, 13 and 20-21. (Normal weekend service will be provided on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 14.) This work will ensure the continuing safety and reliability of the Babylon Branch.

 

As a result of this continuing proactive work to renew the railroad’s infrastructure, the LIRR will need to reduce service on the Babylon Branch from half-hourly to hourly during certain hours of these days. The work builds upon work that was performed the weekend of April 22-23 which resulted in similar changes to train schedules.

 

Of the 80 trains scheduled to operate on the Babylon Branch each Saturday and Sunday, 14 eastbound trains and 11 westbound trains will not operate on the branch on each of the affected days. (These trains will continue to operate at their regular times between Jamaica and Penn Station to serve those making connections with other branches.)

 

Service change details are below:

 

Trains that depart Penn Station at 6:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. will terminate at Jamaica. Customers seeking to travel to all stations from Rockville Centre through Babylon should board trains that depart either 30 minutes earlier or 30 minutes later or should consider traveling on alternate branches.

 

All other Babylon Branch trains, including trains making all local stops that depart Penn Station at the top of every hour, and semi-express trains departing select hours at :15 minutes past, will continue to run normally.

 

Trains that depart Babylon at 8:23 a.m., 9:23 a.m., 10:23 a.m., 11:23 a.m., 12:23 p.m., 2:23 p.m. 5:23 p.m., 6:23 p.m., 7:23 p.m., 9:23 p.m., and 10:24 p.m. will instead originate at Jamaica at their normal departure times. Customers seeking to travel from all stations from Babylon through Rockville Centre should board trains that depart 30 minutes earlier or 30 minutes later or should consider traveling on alternate branches.

 

All other Babylon Branch trains, including trains making all local stops that depart Babylon :53 minutes past every hour, and semi-express trains departing Babylon during select hours at :04 minutes past, will continue to run normally.

 

 

The LIRR encourages customers to sign up for train service updates. Information about this service change and all planned service change is available via many channels.

Email and text message service updates – Customers are encouraged to sign up to receive the alerts by visiting MyMTAAlerts.com. To avoid unwanted messages, a user can tailor the messages to the specific branch, and the specific times of day.

MTA.info – The rail tab of the “Service Status” box at the left side of www.MTA.infois always the definitive source for the latest status for each branch, updated every minute. In addition, customers can visit www.mta.info/lirrto see special service notices in the upper center of the page.

@LIRR on Twitter – Twitter users can follow @LIRR to receive updates of a similar nature to the email and text alerts, shortened to fit Twitter’s format.

LIRR Train Time app – Customers who use the LIRR Train Time app will see up-to-the-minute status for each upcoming train at each station. As a caution, trains that start out their trips on time may experience delays en route.

 

The above communications channels can be accessed while at home or on the go. For customers who are located at stations, the LIRR will post the latest service updates on digital signs at station platforms and will make audio announcements over public address systems, and on-board announcements made by train crews.

 

For those who prefer the telephone, information is available from the LIRR’s Customer Service Center by calling 511, the New York State Travel Information Line, and saying: “Long Island Rail Road” Those who are deaf or hard of hearing can use their preferred service provider for the free 711 relay to reach the LIRR at 511.