Broken rail adds to frustration for LIRR riders

Schedule changes, a reduction of trains in service and rerouting due to work at Penn Station in New York was more than enough to handle for Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) riders on Jan. 6. Piling on to the frustration was a broken rail on the Babylon Branch.

The incident caused delays during the morning rush as crews moved to execute a temporary fix. One of two tracks was taken out of service as permanent repairs were made. Trains were back on schedule at 8:15 a.m., according to LIRR.

Some rush-hour trains have been pulled from the lineup for the next two months due to work on Track 11 and 14 at Penn Station. The work is part of Amtrak’s Penn Station Infrastructure Renewal Program. In addition, three morning peak trains have been rerouted to the Atlantic Terminal, one will now stop short of Penn Station at Jamaica and another peak morning train is now out of service. During the PM rush, two trains will start at the Atlantic Terminal instead of Penn Station, one will start at Jamaica and another will be diverted to the Atlantic Terminal.

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