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Overcast LIRR hopes to restore all service by evening rush
But 'full restoration may not be possible by that time'
LIRR personnel will be out in force at the site of yesterday’s freight train derailment between Hicksville and Westbury to re-rail the derailed freight cars and repair and rebuild sections of hundreds of feet of track that were damaged by the derailment. To accelerate their work, with a goal of restoring full train service for today’s evening rush hour, the LIRR is suspending train service in both directions between Hicksville and Mineola in both directions today starting at 10:30 a.m.
Check here for LIRR updates.
During the mid-day period, westbound customers of the Port Jefferson Branch and Ronkonkoma Branch will board buses at Hicksville for transportation to Mineola, where they will transfer to trains for continued travel westbound.
Eastbound customers of those two branches will board buses at Mineola, where they will transfer to trains for continued travel to points east.
Customers looking to travel to Carle Place or Westbury will also be able to catch buses at Mineola or Hicksville. Customers looking to travel from Carle Place or Westbury will be able to catch buses at both of those stations.
The railroad’s objective is to restore train service by the evening rush hour. But the railroad cautions that full restoration may not be possible by that time.
“Rerailing the derailed train and repairing our track is a very tricky operation with many uncertainties and risks,” said LIRR President Patrick Nowakowski. “Our goal is to restore regular service by the evening rush hour, but at this point it is an aspiration, not a guarantee. Until the work is completed, we will not be able to say with certainty whether we’ll be able to restore rush hour service. We urge all our customers to continue to monitor our digital media channels and the news media for the latest updates.”
For the latest service updates, customers are advised to monitor Service Status on MTA.info, subscribe to the LIRR’s email and text message alerts at mymtaalerts.com, follow the LIRR’s social media channels, including @LIRR on Twitter, and listen for announcements at stations.
