The Long Island Rail Road today announced that crews this month will rebuild the complex of switches at Mineola that allow trains to switch between Main Line tracks, and to/from Oyster Bay Branch tracks. The work will ensure continued safety and reliability of train service on the Main Line and Oyster Bay Branch, and is expected to reduce the number of train delays attributable to switch problems.

 

“As part of LIRR Forward plan we are bringing a focus to repairing, replacing or renewing places within our infrastructure that can cause delays,” said LIRR President Phil Eng. “This important work to rebuild these switches will help us reduce delays and improve service. We thank our customers for all of their patience as we do this work.”

 

On three September Saturdays, the work will require both Main Line tracks to be taken out of service. As a result, train service will be suspended between New Hyde Park and Hicksville on Sept. 7, 14 and 28. On three Sundays, Sept. 8, 15 and 29, one of two tracks will be available for service. Huntington/Port Jefferson Branch train service on these Sundays will operate less frequently than normal.

 

There will be no train service at New Hyde Park, Merillon Avenue, Westbury or Carle Place during these times, and Mineola will be served only by trains operating to or from Oyster Bay.

 

The LIRR advises customer to consider traveling on alternate branches. To help customers travel during the outage, the LIRR is doubling service on the Hempstead Branch. Trains will operate at normal service intervals, but on adjusted schedules, on the Babylon, Far Rockaway, Long Beach, Montauk, Port Washington and West Hempstead Branches, and between Ronkonkoma and Greenport.

 

Weekend parking is free at all stations of the West Hempstead Branch and the Babylon Branch except Amityville and Babylon. On the Hempstead Branch, weekend parking is free at Floral Park and free and plentiful at the north lot of the Country Life Press station. This lot is accessible by car by driving to 7th Street and Franklin Avenue in Garden City and continuing east along 7th Street. Parking in the south side of the lot leads to a 600-foot walk to the Country Life Press station via the sidewalk alongside St. James Street. Hempstead is served by the N27, N48, N49, N70, N71, N72 bus routes. The N40, N41 and N43 routes serve Freeport, while the N80 serves Massapequa and Massapequa Park.

 

On Saturdays, customers traveling westbound from all stations east of Hicksville will travel by train to Hicksville, change to a shuttle train to Babylon, then change to a special train from Babylon to Penn Station, stopping at Jamaica for connections to Atlantic Terminal, Brooklyn.

 

Customers traveling eastbound to all stations east of Hicksville will be able to board trains to Babylon for a connecting train to Hicksville, then change again for continuing service.

 

On Sundays, service to/from Huntington will operate hourly instead of half-hourly; service to Port Jefferson will operate every two hours instead of every 90 minutes.

 

Special timetables can be found at these links:

 

On Saturdays, all Oyster Bay trains will terminate and originate in Mineola.

 

Eastbound customers traveling to all Oyster Bay Branch stations will be able to ride Hempstead Branch trains to Hempstead to transfer to a bus for service to Mineola, where connecting Oyster Bay trains will run every two hours.

 

Westbound customers from all Oyster Bay Branch stations will be able to change at Mineola to NICE Bus routes N40 or N41 for service to Hempstead, then take half-hourly westbound trains from Hempstead to westbound locations.

 

On Sundays, trains will run on adjusted schedules and have affected connections.

 

A special timetable is available at this link.

 

Special Hempstead Branch timetables showing additional service on the branch are available at this link.

 

Service will operate normally on the Port Washington Branch except the train normally departing Penn Station at 11:21 p.m. on Saturdays will depart one minute earlier and will arrive at all stations one minute earlier than normal. A special timetable listing that train is available at this link.

 

Trains on all other branches will operate on adjusted schedules and have affected connections on Saturdays and Sundays. For detailed timetables please click on the link below.

 

 

Information about the planned schedule change noted in this press release, and all planned service changes, is available through the LIRR’s real-time service information sources.

myLIRR.org - Customers can see real-time positions of upcoming trains in real time, on a smartphone-optimized map that refreshes every 3- to 5-seconds, by logging into myLIRR.org, which is optimized for smartphone screens.

 

MYmta app & MTA.info – Customers who use the new, comprehensive MYmta app will see real-time travel information for the LIRR and connecting services all in one place, with push notifications when service is not operating normally. As a caution, trains that start out their trips on time may experience delays en route. The LIRR Train Time app also remains available for customers to access LIRR train information. The rail tab of the “Service Status” box at new.MTA.info is always the definitive source for the latest status for each branch, updated every minute.

 

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.

 

@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.

 

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.

 

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