With the addition of electric train service on the Long Beach Branch Sunday, the LIRR is now operating a near-normal weekday and regular weekend schedule on all branches systemwide.
Starting Monday, Nov. 26, with the addition of the Long Beach electric service, the LIRR’s weekday schedule represents an average 80 percent of the LIRR’s regular rush hour capacity.
Twenty-six of the LIRR’s 143 morning rush hour trains will be canceled or diverted to another terminal. In the evening rush hour, of the 127 trains the LIRR operates, 27 will be canceled.
Overall, across the entire day, the adjustments provide for approximately 92 percent of normal weekday service capacity.
“The Long Island Rail Road’s Long Beach Branch was not spared the devastation that was brought upon Long Beach and the surrounding communities by Sandy,” Governor Cuomo said. “I commend the intensive efforts made by the LIRR to clean, repair and replace the critical components in the flood-damaged electrical substations and signal equipment to restore the vital transportation link the Railroad provides as these hard-hit communities begin to rebuild.”
Amtrak is continuing their work to make permanent repairs to the signal system in two of their East River tunnels flooded during the superstorm. The temporary repairs, which allowed the tunnels to be reopened earlier this month, reduces the number of trains that can travel through the tunnels. Amtrak estimates that the repair to the salt water-damaged signal system is not expected to be completed until the end of the year. The LIRR has been in close contact with Amtrak on the repair plan and effort.
As a result of the reduced tunnel capacity, the LIRR’s weekday schedule continues to include canceled and/or diverted trains during the morning and evening rush hours through the end of the year.
LIRR Customers Should Anticipate Crowding
Because service continues to be limited on weekdays, waits will be longer and trains will be more crowded. Customers are advised to allow extra travel time, expect 10-15 minute delays. In the evening rush hour, customers should expect crowded conditions in Penn Station. Customers are advised to stagger work hours and travel in off-peak hours, if possible, to help reduced crowding in the peak periods.
For More Information
Customers should monitor news reports, the MTA website, www.mta.info, and sign up for free E-Alerts for updates on LIRR service. Customers can also contact the LIRR's Travel Information Center by calling 511, the New York State Travel Information Line, and say: Long Island Rail Road. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, use your preferred relay service provider for the free 711 relay to reach LIRR at 511.
This morning, with Long Beach electric train service restored and all of those people no longer riding the Babylon line, my train out of Wantagh was not crowded. That is a good thing. At Jamaica the train was about normally loaded but not crammed-full; again, a good thing. I think that setting realistic expectations can go a long way to relieveing or even avoiding personal stress and frustration over this sort of situation. I have a heart condition and cannot afford to stress myself over this kind of thing. As I said, I get on the train in the morning and go to work, then I get on the train in the evening and come home. Sometimes I hum to myself that old sixties tune, maybe you remember it: "My baby takes the morning train; he works from nine to five; and then he takes another home again." Just like that. People sometimes ask me what train I catch, and I always reply, "Which ever one comes next". Absolutely no stress on me, Get it? Try it!
"Amtrak is continuing their work to make permanent repairs to the signal system in two of their East River tunnels flooded during the superstorm. The temporary repairs, which allowed the tunnels to be reopened earlier this month, reduces the number of trains that can travel through the tunnels". "As a result of the reduced tunnel capacity, the LIRR’s weekday schedule continues to include canceled and/or diverted trains during the morning and evening rush hours through the end of the year"
It appears that you are not a patron of NYC Transit, a/k/a the subways and buses, where, all local trains (and buses) standing room only is the rush hour normal. Think of this as a capacity problem, where only so many trains can go through a tunnel every hour. The schedules of three railroads and hundreds of thousand of commuters are built around the normal capacity of four operating tunnels. When one tunnel is unavailable, that capacity, the number of trains per hour, is reduced by 25%. When two tunnels are unavailable, the maximum number of trains per hour is cut in half. When you cut the possible number of trains per hour in half, two things happen: fewer seats are moving under the East River during rush hour, and because the operating tunnels are now congested to their maximum capacity and that capacity has to be shared among three railroads, the trains (and their seats and their standing room only) move slower than normal for both safety and organization (fairness to the commuters of LIRR, Amtrak, and NJ Transit). We all know the score, or we should by now. Plan accordingly. There are trains leaving your station earlier than the one you used to catch, or later than the one you used to catch. Either way, earlier or later on your part, enhances the experience with a likely seat and a more leisurely ride, and less stress on you about making that meeting. Stay flexible; lighten up.
those who r whining about port people telling it like it is, really should just stfu imho.
The train was crowded but I got a seat. We arrived in Wantagh within the 5-minute window of being "on-time". (I measure this by the time on the Wantagh Fire Department sign which I walk past on my way home each day). The fare collector was courteous and good natured duiring the ride. I thought the service was fine, all things considered. Expensive, but just fine.
Which is the dumber expectation? (1) Recovering from a major catastrophic storm, the largest commuter railroad in the country has no delays and no crowds and is running its full slate of express trains? Or... (2) Recovering from a major catastrophic storm, the largest commuter railroad in the country is experiencing some delays and crowded conditions, and to accommodate as many people as possible they have made all express trains stop at local stations in order to get *everyone* to where they need to go? Expectation (1) is egocentric and bound to generate stress and frustration because it is just not reasonable or realistic. Expectaion (2) is less stressful and should be less frustrating because it is not only realistic, but it is real, not delusional like expectation (1).
The LIRR is only running 70% of full service and the East River Tunnels may not be fixed until mid January. If that's your definition of pretty good I'd hate to see what bad is.
50% of tunnels are unavailable; LIRR is running 70% of full service; 70% - 50% = 20% better capacity utilization than should be expected. The Long Beach Branch had been out of service completely, then partial diesel service was initiated with LB-Lynbrook shuttles, and now electric service is operating LB-NYC, relieving the Babylon Branch from crowding off the LB Branch. The other factor is the East River Tunnels which are owned, operated, and maintained by Amtrak. The tunnels are not the property or the responsibility of the MTA or LIRR, and LIRR has no ability nor authority to repair them. Now, you have correctly forecast the situation with those tunnels, possibly out until mid-January. Perhaps one will be restored sooner. Remember that the two remaining tunnels are shared by Amtrak, NJ Transit, and LIRR. Amtrak & NJT stage their empty trains on the Queens side of the tunnels in the Sunnyside Railroad Yard. For NJT. this is most of their entire evening rush hour lineup. Armed with this information, we should be able to set realistic expectations for ourselves about train crowding, cancellations, and delays and plan accordingly for at least the next month. Yesterday my AM train was cancelled, I got a Brooklyn train and changed at Jamaica. My PM train was late leaving Penn and arrived 10 minutes late in Wantagh. No big deal.