Buses will substitute for trains at two LIRR Ronkonkoma Branch stations all day Saturday, April 15, in order to allow crews to conduct critical work to advance the LIRR’s Ronkonkoma Branch Double Track Project, which will add increased train service, capacity and allow greater flexibility to minimize the impact of service disruptions along the branch.

 

The “Double Track Project” will add a second track to the 18-mile stretch from Farmingdale to Ronkonkoma by the end of 2018.

 

The work on Saturday calls for installation of a new rail west of Central Islip and the removal of a temporary switch near Ocean Avenue in Ronkonkoma.

 

“Adding a second rail as part of the LIRR’s Double Track Project will bring enormous long-term benefits to Ronkonkoma Branch customers – it will increase capacity and reduce delays from incidents out of our control,” said LIRR President Patrick Nowakowski. “But improving service requires us to temporarily impact service and we’ve worked hard to plan this one-day weekend outage so that it will impact the fewest customers possible.”

 

As a result of the work, buses will substitute for trains for 24 hours at Central Islip and Ronkonkoma on Saturday. Customers traveling to those stations should plan for up to an additional 39 minutes of travel time, or should consider using the Port Jefferson Branch or Montauk Branch as alternatives, or take advantage of free parking at Brentwood and Deer Park.

 

Details of the planned service change are summarized below. A complete train and bus schedule is available at this link: http://web.mta.info/lirr/Timetable/RonkonkomaAndGreenport_RailAndConcreteTieRepair_BROCHURE_GO_204_04-15-2017.pdf 

 

 

Ronkonkoma Branch trains will operate on their normal Saturday schedules but will terminate at Brentwood, where customers will be able to connect with waiting buses that will travel to Central Islip and Ronkonkoma. Customers should plan to add up to an extra 34 minutes of travel time. This change will be in place for the 21 eastbound trains that arrive at Brentwood from 1:25 a.m. through 11:21 p.m. on Saturday, April 15.

 

Trains that depart from Penn Station at 4:39 p.m., 5:39 p.m. and 6:39 p.m. (adding half-hourly service for those three hours), will terminate at Farmingdale without a bus connection.

 

The schedule for the connecting train to Medford, Yaphank, Riverhead, Mattituck, Southold or Greenport, is being adjusted accordingly so that customers will still connect with the 9:12 a.m. and 2:12 p.m. trains from Penn Station. That train will meet buses at Ronkonkoma and will depart 39 minutes after their regular departure times.

 

 

Buses will depart from Ronkonkoma and Central Islip up to 34 minutes earlier than regularly scheduled train departure times, and will connect with trains at Brentwood that will operate to Penn Station on regular Saturday schedules. This change affects the 22 westbound trains that depart Brentwood from 12:57 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 15.

 

Trains that normally depart from Ronkonkoma at 10:05 a.m., 11:05 a.m. and 12:05 p.m. (providing half-hourly service for those three hours) will instead originate at Farmingdale at their normal times, without a bus connection.

 

In order to connect with buses at Ronkonkoma, trains from Greenport, Southold, Mattituck, Riverhead, Yaphank and Medford will depart 21 minutes earlier than normal. Customers will connect with trains that arrive in New York City 60 minutes later than normal.

 

 

LIRR work crews plan to access the work site via the Sycamore Avenue cul-de-sac in Ronkonkoma starting as early as 10 p.m. on Friday. The roadway will remain open but neighbors may notice LIRR work vehicles and equipment traveling and parked in the area. At the conclusion of the work and the removal of the temporary switch, the sounds of trains passing through the region will be reduced.

 

 

Train and bus departure times are available at this link:

 

In addition to the timetable, information about this planned service change is available through the LIRR’s real-time service information sources:

 

Email and text message service updates – Customers are urged 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.