LIRR: 'No lingering problems' expected for evening commute

"No lingering problems" were expected to spill over to the Monday evening commute, following the morning's near systemwide suspension on the Long Island Rail Road due to fire department activity in the Jamaica station area, an MTA spokesman said.

A fire alarm in the railroad's operation center, housed in a building on the southeast side of the station, was activated around 9:35 a.m. by an "unidentified gaseous substance," Salvatore Arena said via email.

The center, which was evacuated, "is responsible for the control and guidance of all train traffic passing through Jamaica Station," he said. Service on all but the Port Washington branch, which does not pass through Jamaica, was suspended at 9:47 a.m., he said, with full service restored at 10:32, but residual delays into early afternoon.

An FDNY spokesman said the department had responded to a call about a hazardous material in the area. He had no details, other than three people were taken to a hospital as a precaution and three others were treated at the scene.

"There were no serious injuries," the spokesman said.

In an unrelated afternoon issue, signal trouble in Hicksville that briefly caused service on the Ronkonkoma and Port Jefferson branches to be suspended in both directions east of Mineola was quickly resolved, the railroad said.

Staff was on the scene, working to restore service, according to a 2:38 p.m. posting on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority website. Notice of service in the process of being restored was sent in an email alert at 2:54 p.m.

SEE PHOTOSLIRR trains and commuters through the years

With Gary Dymski