LIRR service on or close to schedule with vehicles off tracks

Most LIRR trains were on or close to schedule Tuesday night, hours after service was suspended on three branches after a train hit a vehicle in Wyandanch and a vehicle became stuck on the tracks in Mineola, the commuter rail said.

Trains had been delayed for up to two hours after service in both directions was halted during the evening rush hour on the Ronkonkoma, Port Jefferson and Oyster Bay branches, officials said. At one point, Penn Station got so jammed that Metropolitan Transportation Authority police restricted access for about half an hour.

The Long Island Rail Road tweeted about 8:45 p.m. that service was almost back to normal.

Major delays began after the eastbound 4:24 p.m. train from Penn Station struck a vehicle at about 5:35 p.m. on the Ronkonkoma branch, just west of the Wyandanch station at the 18th Street crossing, the LIRR said. No injuries were reported, the commuter railroad said, but service was halted between Wyandanch and Farmingdale.

Minutes later, a vehicle stuck on the tracks at Willis Avenue in Mineola shut down service east of Jamaica on the Ronkonkoma, Port Jefferson and Oyster Bay branches, the LIRR said.

At least two trains were canceled, the LIRR said.

MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said service had to be suspended in Wyandanch because there is only one track in the area. He noted that such an emergency is why two tracks would be needed. Construction on the second set of tracks is underway, Donovan said.