LIRR: Signal trouble causes four hours of delays, cancellations
Signal trouble at the West Side Yard caused about four hours of Long Island Rail Road train delays and cancellations at the height of the Tuesday evening rush hour, officials said.
The problem started just as rush hour started, about 3:30 p.m., according to LIRR tweets. Even after the normal schedule of stops resumed about four hours later, the LIRR said residual delays were expected.
The mess on the Port Jefferson, Oyster Bay, Long Beach and Montauk branches had prompted the LIRR to early on issue a list of possible cancellations for more than 15 trains.
Westbound service on the Port Washington branch was also suspended at one point between Woodside and Penn, the LIRR said.
The LIRR reported that the 5:49 p.m. train from Jamaica, due at Penn at 6:10 p.m., would be the first westbound train to operate to Penn Station after the suspension.
The railroad directed trains on other branches to make all stops along the rail lines.
The signal trouble came after switch trouble west of Woodside station caused delays, cancellations and diversions for about a half-hour during the morning rush on the Babylon, West Hempstead and Far Rockaway lines as westbound trains bypassed Kew Gardens, Forest Hills and Woodside.
New York City Transit cross-honored fares. Residual delays on the Babylon, Hempstead and Port Jefferson branches continued past 8 p.m., LIRR tweets show.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
