LIRR restarting service Tuesday morning on 6 branches

The Long Island Rail Road planned to be up and running on six of its 11 branches in time for the Tuesday morning rush hour after the massive snowstorm caused its first systemwide shutdown in four years, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said.

Beginning at 4 a.m. Tuesday, the LIRR was set to resume limited operations on its Ronkonkoma, Huntington, Babylon, Oyster Bay, Montauk and Port Washington branches, according to the MTA, on varying schedules..

"The LIRR will work to restore service on the other branches throughout the day tomorrow and service will resume on a rolling basis as conditions allow," the MTA said in a statement.

While Nassau's bus system restored some service, other transportation providers remained crippled by the blizzard all day Monday, including bus and ferry services in Suffolk, and area airports that saw more than 2,000 flight cancellations in a 24-hour span.

In an interview with Newsday on Monday morning, LIRR president Robert Free said even with 1,800 employees deployed to fight the storm, systemwide issues still remained, including "vehicles stuck on the tracks," a downed tree and wires east of Great Neck, and third rail electrical connectivity problems in Lynbrook and Farmingdale.

For all the LIRR’s efforts at clearing its tracks, "the wind just blows the snow right back on it," Free said.

"The wind is just unbelievable, and it’s not stopping snowing," Free said. "I’ve been here 34 years, and this is one of the worst storms that I’ve seen."

Free said LIRR officials planned to come up with a restoration plan that prioritizes branches with the highest ridership. "We want to provide as much service as we can, but we want to do it safely," Free said.

Later Monday, the LIRR released more details about the plan. Service on the Montauk branch will be limited to trains between Speonk and points west. Oyster Bay service will operate westbound in the morning and add eastbound trains after the morning rush. Westbound service will start at 4:00 a.m., eastbound at 5:00 a.m. The Port Washington and Ronkonkoma branches will run hourly; Babylon and Huntington branches will operate every half hour. Port Jefferson line trains will run every hour and a half. Oyster Bay trains will run every two hours, with the first westbound train at 5:26 a.m. The first eastbound train will leave at 10:45 a.m. Service to Jamaica and Atlantic Terminal will run every 20 minutes.

Earlier Monday, MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber during an appearance on PIX11 News defended the decision to shut down the largest commuter railroad in North America.

"We did the right thing. ... Everybody knows on Long Island, especially out east, that this is no day to be moving around. They’re really taking a heavy hit," Lieber said.

In addition to snowdrifts interrupting trains’ connectivity with the electrified third rail, Free said the storm has especially impacted track switches. Free said snow-melting devices installed on switches "have difficulty keeping up with this type of environment," as snow is blown back onto switches just as soon as they’re cleared.

Although all LIRR service was suspended, Free said crews had been out clearing snow at stations in anticipation of an eventual restoration. "They’ve been shoveling the platforms all night. Some stations have gotten three passes," Free said.

New York City subways were operating Monday, with some express trains running local. The MTA, on its website, advised riders to expect delays, "some of which could be severe, especially on lines that run outdoors."

Meanwhile, after being shut down since 9 p.m. Sunday, the Nassau Inter-County Express, or NICE Bus, restored some service on its busiest bus routes by 2 p.m. Monday.

While some routes operated every half hour, others were limited to one bus an hour. For the Tuesday morning rush hour, NICE advised riders to "plan for and expect extreme delays as road clean up begins."

After being suspended since Sunday afternoon, Suffolk County Transit planned to resume bus service by 10 a.m. Tuesday, "weather and road conditions permitting," according to the office of County Executive Ed Romaine. As part of the service restoration, workers have to clear snow from bus shelters across more than 2,200 stops.

"Buses may operate at reduced speeds until roadway conditions improve," Romaine's office said in a statement. "Customers are encouraged to plan for additional travel time and to use caution when waiting for, boarding, and exiting buses."

Area airports were also severely impacted by the blizzard. All scheduled flights out of Kennedy and LaGuardia airports on Monday had been canceled, according to the Port Authority. The JFK AirTrain was also suspended Monday.

According to FlightAware.com, which tracks airline service disruptions, nearly 50% of Tuesday's flights were canceled at LaGuardia, 43% at Kennedy and 37% at Long Island MacArthur Airport as of Monday evening.

In a post on X, MacArthur officials said "travelers should continue to check with air carriers for specific information on flight cancellations."

The Bridgeport-Port Jefferson Ferry canceled all trips Monday and the Cross Sound ferry between Orient Point and New London, Connecticut, canceled all trips both Monday and Tuesday.

Newsday's Peter Gill contributed to this story.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.