LIRR 'Cannonball' train to Hamptons returns today

The Long Island Rail Road’s “Cannonball,” the popular afternoon express service to the Hamptons, is making its return run, starting Friday.

For the second year in a row, the train, which departs at 4:06 p.m. on Fridays, leaves from Penn Station, instead of its longtime former origin of Hunterspoint Avenue in Queens. The LIRR also is running express westbound service from Montauk on Sunday evenings.

The Cannonball gets from Penn to Westhampton in 95 minutes, followed by stops at Southampton, Bridgehampton, East Hampton and Montauk, according to the LIRR.

It is “the only named train” operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, “and it makes the longest run covering a distance of 117 miles from Manhattan to Montauk,” according to the MTA.

For more information, visit mta.info/lirr/hamptons.