LIRR to see weekend schedule changes for track work on Port Washington line

Long Island Rail Road travelers on the Port Washington Branch are advised of "significant" schedule changes the first two weekends in October to allow for track maintenance work, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced. Service in both directions is to be affected.

Service is to be cut from half-hourly to hourly starting Oct. 4, at 12:30 p.m. and continue through Oct. 5, at 3 p.m. when trains are to be replaced by buses between Bayside and Port Washington, according to an MTA news release. Regular service is to be restored after midnight.

During those two days rail testing is to be conducted between Port Washington and Great Neck by the bright yellow Sperry Rail Car, fitted with special equipment for detecting internal rail defects.

The following weekend, Oct. 11 to 12, train service will be reduced to hourly on Saturday to allow for switch work near the Woodside station, with trains replaced by buses starting Sunday at 3 p.m., with regular service resuming after midnight.

Check special Port Washington schedules for additional details about those weekends.