Many LIRR trains to run Monday

The Long Island Rail Road will restore service to more than half of its lines beginning this morning after Tropical Storm Irene knocked dozens of trees and utility poles onto tracks, officials said.

Peak service returns this morning on four of the largest branches, Babylon, Huntington, Port Washington and Ronkonkoma, as well as the Hempstead and West Hempstead branches. The LIRR reported early Monday that the 3:37 a.m. train from Babylon, due into Penn Station at 4:50 a.m., is the first train to operate on the Babylon Branch following the aftermath of Irene.

Customers can expect cancellations and some trains operating with fewer cars, which could lead to crowding.

Service remains suspended on the Far Rockaway, Long Beach, Oyster Bay and Port Jefferson branches. Service also remains suspended east of Babylon on the Montauk branch and east of Ronkonkoma.

The move to restore service came several hours after LIRR workers began inspecting several of its 11 branches, including the Main, Babylon and Port Washington lines, LIRR spokesman Sam Zambuto said.

Six hundred LIRR workers were deployed throughout the system, many armed with chain saws, to begin the time-consuming process of clearing storm debris from North America's largest commuter railroad.

MTA chairman Jay Walder said repairs were hampered by strong winds that continued to blow across much of the area.

Among LIRR crews' discoveries, Zambuto said, were trees down on "all four tracks between Jamaica and Penn Station" and a LIPA pole on tracks in Deer Park. Fallen trees also blocked tracks in Little Neck, Amityville and Massapequa.

"We may continue, and probably will continue, to find more trees and other items that may need to be cleared or repaired," Zambuto said.

The LIRR also began reinstalling gates at the nearly 300 crossings that had to be secured or removed, and inspecting rail yards with the goal of returning equipment that was moved to higher ground during the storm.

Walder said he expected MTA buses, including Long Island Bus in Nassau, to be up and running soon.

MTA spokesman Charles Seaton said there was no timeline for the restoration of LI Bus service. Suffolk County Transit bus service will resume Monday, officials said.

Irene's wrath spared Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma, causing little damage, and the airport reopened Sunday at 4:30 p.m., said Islip Town Supervisor Phil Nolan.

Commercial airline flights by Southwest Airlines and US Airways will resume Monday, Nolan said in a statement, following an "extensive evaluation" of the 1,311-acre town-owned property.

Kennedy Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport will open to arriving flights at 6 a.m. Monday, with departures set to resume at noon. LaGuardia Airport will reopen to both arrivals and departures at 7 a.m.

Amtrak, too, is working to restore its service along the East Coast following widespread suspensions that began Friday. Amtrak has already canceled some of Monday's trains out of New York that were bound for Charlotte, N.C., Savannah, Ga., Tampa, Fla., and Miami.

"Engineering teams are reporting areas of flooding, debris on tracks, and power issues," Amtrak said in a statement.

With Sarah Crichton, Keith Herbert and Jennifer Maloney