Track work to affect LIRR service this weekend and next

A major track-surfacing project on the Long Island Rail Road will cause significant disruptions in train service this weekend and next, including the suspension of service on the Hempstead branch, LIRR officials said.

Two 150-ton "track tamper" machines, along with 50 LIRR personnel, will work through the weekend to rehabilitate and replace the track surface at the Queens Interlocking in Queens Village. The work involves lifting the tracks, aligning the ballast, adding new ballast and taking out bumps in the track bed.

Because of the project and separate improvements at grade crossings at Garden City and Stewart Manor, there will be no train service on the Hempstead Branch and fewer than usual trains on the Port Jefferson/Huntington Branch this weekend and on the weekend of April 17-18.

Buses will replace trains on the Hempstead Branch east of Jamaica.

LIRR officials advise customers to use South Shore LIRR branches to avoid delays during the two weekends.

Schedules also will be adjusted on the Babylon, Far Rockaway, Long Beach, Oyster Bay and Ronkonkoma branches during the affected weekends to accommodate Hempstead Branch and Port Jefferson/Huntington Branch connections.

For more information, including detour routes for drivers near the affected grade crossings, visit mta.info/lirr.