Broken Montauk rail line fixed

A broken rail near the Great River station that caused problems on the Montauk branch of the Long Island Rail Road Friday morning has been repaired, railroad officials said.

The rail near Brentwood Road was repaired at about 10:45 a.m., spokesman Aaron Donovan said, and full service was restored shortly afterward.

But not before the 9:34 a.m. train from Patchogue, due to arrive in Babylon at 10:04 a.m., was canceled.

The rail also caused the eastbound 8:52 a.m. train from Babylon, due in Montauk at 10:53 a.m., to be held in Babylon for a late Montauk westbound train. That train - the 7:31 a.m. train from Speonk - was scheduled to arrive in Babylon at 8:31 a.m. But because of the broken rail, it had to reverse to a switch location and transfer to the eastbound track for the remainder of the trek west to Babylon, 52 minutes behind schedule.

Donovan could not say how the rail was broken.