LIRR: 'Track condition' leaves residual delays
A track condition related to heat in one of the East River tunnels left residual delays on the Long Island Rail Road Wednesday night after causing problems during the evening rush hour, the railroad said.
The railroad had issued an advisory on its Twitter feed at about 5:40 p.m., which was followed by a handful of notices about delays on specific trains, including service to Ronkonkoma, Freeport and Port Washington.
That initial flurry of advisories was followed by a growing series of announcements of delays on trains headed to Great Neck, Babylon, Seaford, Far Rockaway, Hicksville, Oyster Bay and Massapequa Park.
About 7:30 p.m., a LIRR spokeswoman said the problem was a "heat kink," which is akin to what happens to asphalt on a sunny day.
As of about 8 p.m., there were residual delays of about 10 minutes, she added.
A total of about 26 trains were delayed during the peak rush hour period, she said.
Customers faced delays ranging from five minutes to 30 minutes as cancellations forced them to wait for the next scheduled train.
Amtrak owns and operates the four East River tunnels. During evening rush hours, one of the tunnels carries travelers westbound into New York City, and the three other tunnels return commuters home to Long Island.
Amtrak shut one of the three eastbound tunnels after the Long Island Rail Road reported a problem. Amtrak then dispatched a maintenance crew to check the tunnel, the LIRR spokesman said.
