Track work to affect LIRR service this weekend

Trains will be suspended Saturday and Sunday on the Hempstead branch and reduced on the Port Jefferson/Huntington branch because of track and grade-crossing work, the Long Island Rail Road said.

Customers should consider using alternative stations along the South Shore, including Babylon, Long Beach and West Hempstead, to avoid delays, the LIRR said.

On the Hempstead branch, workers will use two track-tamper machines - each more than 100 feet long and weighing 150 tons - to lift and align the track and add ballast where necessary. The work is designed to smooth the track bed and is expected to help track components last longer, the LIRR said.

In Stewart Manor, workers will replace rubber panels at the Covert Avenue grade crossing with longer-lasting concrete. Traffic will be detoured.

Except for the Port Washington branch, schedule adjustments on all branches will be made this weekend to accommodate connections at the Hempstead and Port Jefferson/Huntington branches, the agency said in a news release. These adjustments are reflected in special weekend timetables dated April 17-18 available at all stations and terminals.

Here are the changes:

* Hempstead branch: Eastbound customers will board trains at western terminals, then disembark at Jamaica for buses that will take them to their destinations. Customers should anticipate up to 33 minutes of additional travel time.

Westbound customers will board buses at their stations, then change at Jamaica for trains to western terminals. Buses will depart up to 32 minutes earlier than scheduled train times.

* Huntington/Port Jefferson branch: Customers traveling to and from stations from New Hyde Park through Huntington will have hourly train service instead of half-hourly train service. Customers traveling east of Huntington to and from Port Jefferson will have train service every two hours instead of every 90 minutes.

The Covert Avenue grade crossing detours are:

Northbound: Proceed east on Salisbury Avenue, north on New Hyde Park Road, then west on Stewart Avenue to Covert Avenue.

Southbound: Proceed east on Stewart Avenue, south on New Hyde Park Road, then west on Salisbury Avenue to Covert Avenue.

For schedule information, customers can call 631-231-5477 in Suffolk County; 516-822-5477 in Nassau County; and 718-217-5477 in New York City.