Broken rail west of Forest Hills repaired after morning delays, cancellations on LIRR
Emergency personnel work to remove a vehicle from the LIRR tracks in Wyandanch Sunday. Credit: Paul Mazza
A broken rail west of Forest Hills caused numerous morning delays and cancellations on the Long Island Rail Road Monday, the railroad reported.
The LIRR said repairs have been completed with trains running normally across the system by around 11 a.m.
The track condition caused delays and cancellations on the Babylon, Ronkonkoma and Port Jefferson branches, delays on the Montauk, Oyster Bay and Far Rockaway branches and skipped stops throughout the City Terminal Zone. Normal service was restored on the Long Beach Branch following earlier cancellations, the LIRR said.
On the Babylon Branch, the LIRR announced at least three trains to Penn Station — the 6:54 a.m. from Wantagh, the 8:17 a.m. from Babylon and the 8:18 a.m. from Wantagh — had been canceled. On the Port Jefferson Branch, the 6:57 a.m. train from Huntington to Grand Central Terminal and the 8:08 a.m. train from Huntington to Grand Central had been canceled.
Two trains from Ronkonkoma to Grand Central — the 6:29 a.m. and the 7:10 a.m. — were canceled.
The LIRR also saw a suspension of service for several hours overnight Sunday between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma after a car crashed onto the tracks in Wyandanch.
The incident occurred about 10:10 p.m., Sunday, blocking two tracks west of Wyandanch station, with the vehicle removed within about 90 minutes, the railroad said. A damaged section of track was repaired and service restored just after 4 a.m.
It was not immediately clear how many trains were affected by the incident. The MTA said two occupants were in the vehicle and said only that the incident remained under investigation Monday.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
