LIRR says it'll be back to normal for Monday commute

Long Island Rail Road officials say tomorrow's commute should be back on track after the last weekend of the worst planned service delays in 16 years, made necessary by the railway's $56 million signal and switch upgrade.

The last of the LIRR's planned "extremely limited service" weekends allowed officials to conduct final tests on the new system.

But the disruptions continue Sunday, so runners and spectators counting on the nation's busiest commuter railroad to travel to the ING New York City Marathon should pick up trains in Long Beach, Babylon and Port Washington, which will all offer direct connections to Penn Station, the railroad's spokesman said Saturday.

Bruce Boucher, 40, said he flew to Kennedy Airport from North Carolina to run the marathon, but hadn't heard about disruptions until his arrival.

"I didn't know about the Long Island Rail Road," he said at Penn Station before heading for the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center to pick up his race registration information.

He said someone told him to take the E train after getting off the AirTrain in Jamaica.

"I guess I got lucky," he said.

Yesterday's LIRR ridership was down 45 percent overall, but up 63 percent in Port Washington - the only branch unaffected by the testing at the Jamaica transit hub, said the railroad spokesman, Joe Calderone.

Calderone said the work this weekend was proceeding "right on time."

The new system is expected to be in place in time for rush hour tomorrow. "We're at more than 60 percent completion" for the weekend, he said.

"We're anticipating a regular Monday commute."

Officials say the delays are needed to test the computerized signal and switching system that replaces the century-old lever-operated one dating to before World War I.

During the testing this weekend and on Oct. 23 and Oct. 24, about a third of the usual number of trains were running; about a dozen stations had no service whatsoever. Commuters were told to take the E subway line at Jamaica to complete trips into Manhattan, and buses replaced trips between Mineola and Jamaica.

At Jamaica Saturday morning, a few dozen people were in the ticket lobby and near the platforms, where signs alerted riders to the disruptions.

Stephen Florentz, 21, a student at St. John's University, was on his way home to Kings Park for the weekend. He said because of the delays, he had to start his trip early and he expected to spend an extra 30 minutes traveling. He said he planned to take a bus from Jamaica to Mineola and then a train to Kings Park.

"Hopefully, it will make it easier [to travel] and the trains quicker in the future," he said of the work. "I'll have to deal with it today to make it better long term."

At Penn Station, where railroad employees stood ready to field questions, an anxious Chris Repole, 26, of Brooklyn Heights, was headed to Roslyn for his best friend's wedding. He would probably be late.

"I underestimated the amount of time I would need," he said.