LIRR to increase service for Islanders’ 2016-2017 season
Fans arrive at Barclays Center on May 3, 2016, before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the New York Islanders and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Long Island Rail Road will run twice as many trains to and from Islanders games in Brooklyn as compared to the beginning of last year’s hockey season, the LIRR announced Thursday.
The new service includes, for the first time, a regularly scheduled train to Ronkonkoma departing after Islanders weekday home games at the Barclays Center, which is just across the street from the LIRR’s Atlantic Terminal.
That will bring the total number of eastbound trains out of Atlantic Terminal after weekday Islanders games to four, double the number the LIRR ran at the start of the 2015-2016 NHL season.
“More and more Islanders fans have found the LIRR to be the quickest and most convenient way to and from Barclays Center,” LIRR president Patrick Nowakowski said in a statement. “We anticipate continued growth in ridership to Brooklyn as the Islanders begin their second season there.”
Nowakowski added that the LIRR’s proposed third track on its Main Line would create additional capacity for the railroad to operate even more trains to and from Brooklyn.
The increased service will be the same as what the LIRR ran during the Islanders playoff run last season. In addition to the Ronkonkoma train, there will also be a train to Farmingdale and two to Babylon.
The LIRR is also bolstering its Brooklyn service during weekend Islanders games, including four additional Atlantic Terminal bound trains before the games.
The Islanders’ first regular season home game takes place Oct. 16 against the Anaheim Ducks.
Brett Yormark, chief executive officer of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, which oversees Barclays Center and the business operations of the Islanders, said he was “delighted” with service enhancement.
“Our goal is to continue making Islanders games even more convenient for Long Island fans,” Yormark said.
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.
Updated now Newsday travel writer Scott Vogel took the ferry over to Block Island for a weekend of fun.
Updated now Newsday travel writer Scott Vogel took the ferry over to Block Island for a weekend of fun.
