The Long Island Rail Road is experiencing some weather-related delays this morning on the Babylon and Montauk branches as trains on six Long Island Rail Road lines are returning to service after yesterday's blizzard shut down the entire system for more than 24 hours.
The MTA said the first lines back are Ronkonkoma, Huntington, Babylon, Oyster Bay, Montauk and Port Washington beginning at 4 a.m westbound and eastbound in the 5 a.m. hour.
Montauk service will be limited to trains between Speonk and points west, Oyster Bay service will operate westbound in the morning and add eastbound after the morning rush, the Port Washington and Ronkonkoma branches will run on an hourly schedule, the Babylon and Huntington branches will operate on a half-hourly schedule and the Port Jefferson Branch trains will run every hour and a half.
"The scheduled suspension prioritized passenger safety and allowed crews to focus on snow-clearing efforts from this extreme winter weather event, which impacted Long Island more than any other part of the MTA service area," the MTA said.
Conditions during the blizzard forced the MTA to shut down the entire Long Island Rail Road at 1 a.m. Monday.
Crews have been running patrol and de-icing trains to prevent ice buildup on the third rail, working on interlockings and clearing fallen trees from tracks caused by high winds.
The Far Rockaway, Hempstead, Long Beach and West Hempstead branches all remain suspended because of the ongoing effects of this week's storm, the MTA said.
The MTA said it will work to restore service on the other branches throughout the day and expects service to resume on a rolling basis as conditions allow.
Last month's
storm had major
impacts on the
Long Island Rail Road as the MTA attempted to get the system back online, causing delays and cancellations for several days.