LIRR still affected after Monday's lightning strikes

Service on the Long Island Rail Road's Babylon branch will be "intermittent" this morning as the LIRR continues to cope with weather-related signal problems.

"The Babylon Branch will have canceled and combined trains this morning due to weather-related signal problems," the LIRR said in a statement.

The branch had been suspended, but power and signals have been restored on one track out of Babylon. The LIRR had previously announced that rush-hour service would operate at a normal schedule, but the Babylon branch is still experiencing problems and further train cancelations are expected.

On the Montauk branch, the 5:08 a.m. train from Speonk, due into New York at 7:02 a.m., is approximately 50 minutes late after being delayed in Mastic-Shirley due to signal problems.

On Monday, lightning strikes in Babylon and on the main line just east of Jamaica caused "significant problems" to the railroad's signal system, spokesman Sam Zambuto said.

The LIRR halted all service on its Montauk, Babylon, Huntington, Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma and Hempstead lines about 3:30 p.m., affecting the travel plans of thousands of commuters.

Service was restored on all the lines about 5:30 p.m. Residual delays of up to two hours were later reduced to about 15 minutes by 10 p.m. on all but the Babylon branch.

SEE PHOTOSLIRR trains and commuters through the years

In some cases, LIRR workers manually operated signals and switches from remote locations along tracks. Some commuters made it onto their trains only to sit on the tracks for extended delays.

At Jamaica Station, people ran from platform to platform and crammed into trains, with doors closing on bags and bodies as they squeezed themselves in.

"It's chaos," said Charles Davis, 40, who works at Citibank in Queens and was trying to get home to Ronkonkoma. "They haven't really been giving us any information. I'm just watching the screen, and when I see my train, I've got to run."

The LIRR suspended westbound service from Jamaica into Penn Station to free up capacity for eastbound trains. It was restored hours later. MTA Police also restricted access to Penn Station to prevent overcrowding, officials said.

Diana Cooper, 42, of Port Washington, whose 5:44 p.m. from Penn left at 6:24 p.m., said, "Police were not letting us down [into Penn Station]. People were screaming and the gates were closed."

She said she managed to sneak down anyway and get updates through a commuter website.

Another commuter, George Pomban, 65, of Glen Head, who had been waiting 20 minutes for his 5:55 p.m. train to Great Neck, said he had been commuting for 25 years. "You get used to this. It happens once a month and you can't get upset," he said.

-- With Maria Alvarez and Candice Ruud