MTA adds trains for Thanksgiving week for LI riders

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has released its Thanksgiving week schedule, which includes additional trains for Long Islanders, as local residents gear up for the holiday week ahead.

Starting on Wednesday, the Long Island Rail Road will operate an additional 12 trains leaving from Penn Station between 12:45 p.m. and 4:15 p.m., MTA officials announced Sunday in a news release. The extra services will include four extra trains on the Babylon Branch, three on the Port Jefferson/Huntington Branch, two on the Ronkonkoma Branch and one each on the Far Rockaway, Montauk and Port Washington branches.

The LIRR will operate on a holiday schedule on Thanksgiving Day, but will provide more trains before and after the Macy’s parade.

An extra 17 trains will be provided before and after the parade, the release said. Between 6 a.m. and 7:45 a.m. six extra trains will depart from Long Island stations, including two each on the Babylon Branch and Ronkonkoma Branch and one each on the Montauk and Port Jefferson Branch.

There will be an additional 11 trains departing from Penn Station, between 11 a.m. and 1:35 p.m. Four extra eastbound trains will depart on the Babylon Branch and Ronkonkoma Branch, two on the Port Jefferson/Huntington Branch and one on the Montauk Branch.

On Black Friday, the LIRR will operate on a regular weekday schedule with off-peak fares in effect all day, according to MTA officials. Regular weekend service will be in effect on Saturday and Sunday.

For those on the roads, the MTA will also suspend any routine daytime maintenance that causes lane closures beginning at noon on Tuesday and running through 6 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 28 to accommodate drivers throughout the holiday weekend. The MTA added that any critical work that must be done during this period will occur during overnight hours.

Commuters can visit the MYmta app for updates and train times.