Ronkonkoma, NY - March 30th, 2016 - Ronkonkoma Branch customers planning to ride the Long Island Rail Road over the weekend of Saturday, April 9 and Sunday, April 10, are advised to plan ahead and allow for extra travel time as bus service replaces trains service in both directions between Ronkonkoma and Hicksville.
The busing program will begin at 12:45 a.m. Saturday and continue all day Sunday through 12:45 a.m. on Monday, April 11 as the LIRR carries out Double Track construction work, a crossing renewal project and Sperry Rail testing during a 48-hour track outage.
Customers should expect up to 44 minutes of additional travel time in both directions. To avoid the busing program, customers may want to consider driving to nearby stations on the Port Jefferson, Babylon or Montauk branches where trains will run on regular weekend schedules.
Westbound
Customers beginning their trip at stations Ronkonkoma, Central Islip, Brentwood, Wyandanch and Pinelawn will board buses up to 44 minutes earlier than the usual train departure time for travel to Hicksville where they train service resumes.
Eastbound
Customers will travel by train as far as Hicksville where they will board buses to stations Pinelawn through Ronkonkoma.
Bethpage & Farmingdale
Service to Bethpage and Farmingdale are unaffected by the outage. Trains to those stations will operate on a regular weekend schedule.
Crossing Renewal & Sperry Rail Testing
The LIRR is taking advantage of the Double Track outage to renew the crossing at New Highway in Farmingdale and to carry out Sperry Rail Testing between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma. The Sperry Rail Car, a bright yellow vehicle fitted with ultrasonic and induction test equipment, is designed to detect internal rail defects not readily visible to the eye.
Defects that are found will be corrected immediately by a crew of LIRR track maintenance workers. The Sperry Rail Car is used twice a year to inspect approximately 500 miles of LIRR track.
For More Information
Customers can pick up a copy of the Special Timetable for Ronkonkoma Branch travel over the weekend of April 9 and April 10 at terminals and stations or find it online at www.mta.info. For up-to-the-minute service info, customers can download the LIRR’s Train Time app or sign up for LIRR service alerts at www.mymtaalerts.com.
They can also contact the LIRR’s Customer Service Center by calling 511, the New York State Travel Information Line, and saying: Long Island Rail Road. If you are deaf or hearing impaired, use your preferred relay service provider for the free 711 relay to reach the LIRR at 511.
