Alcohol to Be Banned From Metro-North and LIRR Trains;

Railroads to Operate Many Extra Trains

With New York City’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade scheduled for Saturday, March 17, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) reminds customers that alcohol will be banned from the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad. The LIRR and Metro-North will offer extra trains to help customers get to the parade and subway and bus service changes will be in place for the day. Details follow.

The MTA Police Department will enforce a ban alcoholic beverages from 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, March 17, to 5 a.m. on Sunday, March 18. (On the LIRR, alcohol is always banned between 12:01 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Saturday mornings.)

Any alcoholic beverages found by the MTA Police will be confiscated.

With large crowds expected for the parade, the MTA urges customers to buy round trip tickets in advance at their home stations or via MTA eTix®, the mobile ticketing app that lets you purchase and display train tickets directly on your smartphone or mobile device. Metro-North conductors will be posted at select Hudson Line stations to collect tickets before customers board trains.

New York City Transit

The following subway and bus changes will be in effect from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday:

At the 77 St  line station, some staircases may be designated as entry/exit only, on both the uptown and downtown platforms due to crowd control. If you’re traveling to the parade from Astoria, Queens, please note that  service will be suspended in both directions between Astoria-Ditmars Blvd and Times Sq-42 St due to critical track replacement work. As an alternative, free shuttle buses will operate between Astoria-Ditmars Blvd and Queensboro Plaza, and the  train will be available at Queensboro Plaza. Details about these changes are available on the Weekender app and website.

As a reminder some subway lines do not run on weekends: there will be no  express service.   trains will not run, and customers are reminded to use the  instead of the . 

The following NYC Transit and MTA Bus routes will be detoured in the area along the parade route:  M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M31, M50, M55, M57, M66, M72, M79, M86, X1, X10, X17, X27, X28, BM1, BM2, BM3, BM4, BM5, BxM2, BxM3, BxM4, BxM6, BxM7, BxM8, BxM9, BxM10, BxM11, Q32 and most Staten Island Express buses. 

Long Island Rail Road

The LIRR will operate 38 additional trains to/from Penn Station to help customers seeking to attend the parade. The schedules for these trains are available via the LIRR Train Time app and the LIRR website at http://web.mta.info/lirr/Timetable/. Scroll down to “NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade March 17, 2018 Only” to find in the left hand column PDF files showing special schedules for eight branches.

An overview of the extra trains follows by branch.

Babylon Branch & Montauk Branch (14 Extra Trains)

• Three extra trains will depart Babylon at 8:47 a.m., 9:47 a.m. and 10:47 a.m., making all stops through Rockville Centre, then Lynbrook, Jamaica and Penn Station.
• An extra train will depart Speonk at 8:55 a.m., making all stops through Babylon, then Amityville, Massapequa, Bellmore, Freeport, Jamaica and Penn Station.
• Three extra trains will depart Babylon at 9:18 a.m., 10:18 a.m. and 11:18 a.m., making all stops through Rockville Centre, Jamaica, Woodside and Penn Station.
• Six extra trains to depart Penn Station at 2:38 p.m., 3:38 p.m., 4:38 p.m., 5:38 p.m., 6:38 p.m. and 7:38 p.m. will stop at Woodside, Jamaica, Lynbrook, Rockville Centre then all stops through Babylon.
• An extra train to depart Penn Station at 5:11 p.m. will stop at Jamaica, Freeport, Bellmore, Massapequa, Amityville, Babylon then all stops to Speonk.

Long Beach Branch (Two Extra Trains)

• An extra train will departing Long Beach at 10:55 a.m., making all stops through Lynbrook, then Valley Stream, Jamaica and Penn Station.
• An extra train to depart Penn Station at 5:16 p.m. will stop at Jamaica, Valley Stream, Lynbrook then all stops to Long Beach.

Port Jefferson Branch (Six Extra Trains)

• Two extra trains will depart Huntington, at 10:18 a.m. and 11:18 a.m., making all stops through Hicksville, then Mineola, Woodside and Penn Station.
• An extra train will depart Port Jefferson at 8:25 a.m., making all stops through Hicksville, then Jamaica and Penn Station.
• Two extra trains to depart Penn Station at 5:42 p.m. and 6:42 p.m. will stop at Jamaica, Mineola, Hicksville and then all stops to Huntington.
• An extra train departing Penn Station at 4:02 p.m. will stop at Jamaica, Mineola, Hicksville, then all stops to Port Jefferson.

Port Washington Branch (Two Extra Trains)

• Two extra trains will depart Great Neck, at 10:14 a.m. and 11:14 a.m., making all stops through Flushing, then Woodside and Penn Station.

Ronkonkoma Branch (14 Extra Trains)

• Four extra trains will depart Ronkonkoma at 8:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., making all stops Ronkonkoma through Bethpage except Pinelawn, then Hicksville, Westbury, Mineola, New Hyde Park, Jamaica, Kew Gardens, Forest Hills and Penn Station.
• Three extra trains will depart Ronkonkoma at 8:55 a.m., 9:55 a.m. & 10:55 a.m., making all stops Ronkonkoma through Bethpage except Pinelawn, then Hicksville, Jamaica and Penn Station.
• Five extra trains to depart Penn Station at 3:35 p.m., 4:35 p.m., 5:35 p.m., 6:35 p.m. and 7:35 p.m. will stop at Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Jamaica, New Hyde Park, Mineola, Westbury, Hicksville, Bethpage then all stops to Ronkonkoma except Pinelawn.
• Two extra trains to depart Penn Station at 5:29 p.m. and 6:29 p.m. will stop at Woodside, Jamaica, Bethpage then all stops through Ronkonkoma except Pinelawn.

Metro-North Railroad

Metro-North will operate seven additional Grand Central-bound trains in the morning. In the afternoon/evening, Metro-North will have additional trains staged at Grand Central and ready to depart as needed. The details for the additional trains will be available via the Metro-North Train Time app and on schedules available via www.mta.info/mnr.

Harlem Line (Two Scheduled Extra Trains)

• Departing Southeast at 9:30 a.m., stopping at Brewster, Croton Falls, Purdy’s, Goldens Bridge, Katonah, Bedford Hills, Mt. Kisco, Chappaqua and Pleasantville and then operating express to Harlem-125th Street and arriving at Grand Central Terminal at 10:59 a.m.
• Departing North White Plains at 9:48 a.m., making all local stops to Mt Vernon West and then Harlem-125th Street and arriving at Grand Central Terminal at 10:41 a.m.

For customers traveling to and from stations north of Goldens Bridge, there will be 5 to 10 minute delays due to infrastructure repair work. Metro-North is performing ongoing repairs to multiple downed power poles & lines damaged by the recent nor’easters.

Southbound Saturday afternoon trains scheduled to originate at Southeast will be reduced from half-hourly service to hourly service. Trains departing Southeast at 3:40 p.m., 4:40 p.m., 5:40 p.m. and 6:39 p.m. are cancelled between Southeast and Purdy’s and will originate at Goldens Bridge at 4:04 p.m., 5:04 p.m., 6:04 p.m. and 7:04 p.m., and operate normally from there to Grand Central Terminal. All other scheduled trains from Southeast will operate, including departures to Grand Central Terminal at 3:12 p.m., 4:12 p.m., 5:12 p.m., 6:12 p.m. and 7:12 p.m. Customers planning to travel on Sunday, March 18, please note that substitute busing will be in effect between Southeast and Goldens Bridge. Check http://www.mta.info/mnr for details.

Hudson Line (Three Scheduled Extra Trains)

• Departing Poughkeepsie at 7:37 a.m., stopping at New Hamburg at 7:47 a.m., Beacon at 7:55 a.m., and then operating express to Croton-Harmon and Harlem-125th Street, and arriving at Grand Central Terminal at 9:20 a.m.
• Departing Poughkeepsie at 8:37 a.m. stopping at New Hamburg at 8:47 a.m., Beacon at 8:55 a.m., and operating express to Croton-Harmon and Harlem-125th Street, and arriving at Grand Central Terminal at 10:20 a.m.
• Departing Poughkeepsie at 9:15 a.m., stopping at New Hamburg at 9:25 a.m., and stopping at Beacon at 9:33 a.m., then operating express to Croton-Harmon and Harlem-125th Street, and arriving at Grand Central Terminal at 11 a.m.

New Haven Line (Two Scheduled Extra Trains)

• Departing New Haven at 8:40 a.m., stopping at West Haven, Milford, Stratford, Bridgeport, Fairfield Metro, Fairfield and Westport and then operating express to Harlem-125th Street and arriving at Grand Central Terminal at 10:31 a.m.,
• Departing Stamford at 9:50 a.m., making local stops and arriving at Grand Central Terminal at 11:02 a.m.