LIRR Test Article

A broken rail and a signal circuit problem affecting switches is causing 20- to 30-minute delays on the main line of the Long Island Rail Road early Thursday morning between Mineola and Floral Park, railroad officials said.

The problem had affected at least five trains by 7:30 a.m. along with the track switching system west of the Mineola station, not far from where the Oyster Bay Branch and Port Jefferson-Ronkonkoma Branch joins the main line track to Penn Station.

As a result, trains were being forced to slow to 15 mph through the area, a railroad spokesman said, causing the delays. Crews later found a broken rail, compounding the problem.

It was unclear early Thursday how long the problem would take to fix - or how long it would take for the railroad to get back on schedule.