LIRR: Port Jefferson Branch service restored after suspension

The Long Island Rail Road said service on the Port Jefferson Branch has been restored in time for the Wednesday evening commute after a broken rail prompted a service suspension.

Bus service was provided in place of trains between Smithtown and Port Jefferson after the railroad reported the broken rail near Stony Brook at about 10 a.m.

It was the second significant disruption of the morning.

A disabled nonpassenger train had slowed service west of Mineola and temporarily halted service on the Hempstead Branch before dawn.

The railroad said in an alert to riders about 4:30 a.m. that the suspension on the Hempstead Branch was due to a disabled nonpassenger train near Floral Park.

The railroad said in another alert just after 6 a.m. that there were delays averaging 10 to 15 minutes in both directions west of Mineola on the Ronkonkoma and Port Jefferson branches due to a disabled nonpassenger train near Queens Village.

A railroad spokeswoman said there was one disabled LIRR train, and it was between Floral Park and Queens Village.

“The nonpassenger train is being removed as we speak,” a railroad spokesman said at 6:30 a.m. The railroad said service in the area was back to normal about 9 a.m.

The second straight day of delays on the railroad came as new railroad president Phillip Eng was embarking on his second day of stops at transportation hubs to talk to riders.

Tuesday, at Eng’s first stop in Mineola, one rider told him the LIRR and Amtrak, which operates Penn Station and a major switching point in Queens, should work together to improve service.

Earlier Tuesday, a switch problem at Penn Station had disrupted service. Amtrak at first said it had no switch problem at the facility, but later said it did.

Eng, a Smithtown resident, became president of the railroad Monday.