Broken rail on Babylon Branch fixed after delays during morning commute
Crews have replaced a broken rail near Lindenhurst that caused morning rush hours delays, and at least one cancellation, on the Babylon Branch of the Long Island Rail Road Monday, officials said.
The railroad said the broken rail caused average delays of 5-10 minutes, with one train delayed 24 minutes, and said the 7:10 a.m. train from Penn Station to Babylon was canceled upon arrival in Jamaica as a result of the situation. Temporary repairs had been made to help alleviate rush hour delays, the LIRR said in a statement.
The issue took one of the two tracks in the area out of service until repairs were made, officials said. Crews were making permanent repairs to the broken rail, the LIRR said, adding "some delays on the Babylon Branch may occur while we operate on one of two tracks through the area."
The railroad said at 8:15 a.m. that trains were back on schedule as a result of the fix.
LIRR riders already were bracing for delays starting Monday as a result of Amtrak’s infrastructure upgrades at Penn Station — when the latest round of repairs will take some rush-hour trains out of service for two months.
The reduction at the LIRR’s Manhattan hub will require the railroad to reroute or cancel five morning rush-hour trains and six evening rush-hour trains until March 8, the LIRR said.
The work is the continuation of Amtrak’s Penn Station Infrastructure Renewal Program, which began in July 2017 after several major infrastructure failures at the station.
The latest work will entail replacing aging components of Track 11 and Track 14 at Penn.
As a result of the project, three morning peak LIRR trains to Penn Station will be rerouted to Atlantic Terminal; one morning peak train to Penn Station will terminate in Jamaica; and one morning peak train to Penn Station will not operate.
In the evening rush, two trains will originate at Atlantic Terminal instead of Penn Station, one train will originate at Jamaica instead of Penn Station; two trains will not operate; and one evening reverse-peak train will be diverted to Atlantic Terminal.
With Alfonso A. Castillo
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
