A graphic from The New York Times highlights the importance of the Hall Tower to LIRR operations east of Jamaica.
As the Long Island Rail Road continues to recover from the fire that knocked out the Hall Tower signal just east of Jamaica, the agency announced a reduced schedule throughout the day on Tuesday. The LIRR will run at 75 percent capacity in bound to New York City and 60 percent capacity outbound. This could be the reality on the ground for days to come as crews must check over 200 wires for possible damage.
For now, all service along the Port Washington Branch will continue to operate normally. The LIRR’s plans for the other lines during peak and off-peak hours are as follows, and for the why of it, check out how The Times explains it today:
It seems improbable that a piece of ancient machinery, a contraption of levers and pulleys designed in 1913, would be critical to the successful operation of one of the nation’s largest commuter railroads.
But the machinery, which remained on fire for about an hour, controls the 155 track switches at a crucial choke point: Jamaica Station, which 10 of the railroad’s 11 branches must travel through to get in and out of New York City.
With no way to direct trains onto their proper routes, railroad workers scrambled onto the tracks, spikes and mallets in hand, to lock the switches into place manually so that trains could travel by, a practice known in railroad parlance as “block and spike.”
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Tuesday AM Rush
Thirty-three westbound AM rush hour trains — or 25 percent of the normal capacity — will be canceled. The complete list of canceled trains can be found here. As a result of the cancellations, the MTA expects residual delays from added station stops. Says the Rail Road, “Customers will be able to exit or board trains at Jamaica Station, however trains making scheduled stops at Jamaica will not be held for scheduled connections to Penn Station, Atlantic Terminal, Hunterspoint Avenue, and Long Island City.” LIRR personnel will be on hand to provide directions, and Manhattan-bound customers may be better off transferring to the E, J or Z trains at Jamaica.
There will be no train service between West Hempstead and Valley Stream with buses available at Valley Stream. Westbound trains will not run from St. Albans, and again, shuttle buses will provide service.
Eastbound reverse-peak service from Atlantic Terminal and Penn Station will operate at regularly scheduled times but with anticipated delays en route. There will be no eastbound train service from Jamaica to Locust Manor, Laurelton and Rosedale. The MTA will run buses instead.
Tuesday PM Rush
The LIRR’s plan for Tuesday evening is similar to Monday’s. Approximately 60 percent of the 120 regularly-scheduled trains that leave Manhattan will run, and the agency expects canceled trains, delays and no connections at Jamaica Station.
In addition to the Port Washington service, evening rush service from Penn Station will include dedicated trains making local stops to Huntington/Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma/Greenport, Long Beach, Babylon and Montauk, but police will be engaging in serious crowd-control measures at Penn Station. MTA officers will carefully regulate the number of people entering the LIRR section of the terminal, allowing customers in as trains become available. Crowding is also a concern at Jamaica.
LIRR is will be offering Hempstead and Far Rockaway-bound trains only from Atlantic Terminal in downtown Brooklyn. There will be no Hempstead and Far Rockaway service from Penn Station.
LIRR customers were also advised of service changes if heading for the following destinations:
- Oyster Bay: Travel to Mineola for connections to all Oyster Bay branch stops.
- West Hempstead: Travel to Valley Stream where buses will be available to take them onto to their home stations.
- Patchogue, Speonk and Montauk: Customers can connect to those trains at Babylon.
I will continue to update with more information throughout the day.
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