As LIRR delays continue, new signal technology awaits

Signal men performing functional tests following fire at Hall Tower. Photo via Long Island Rail Road.

For the third consecutive day, Long Island Rail Road is warning its commuters to expect “significant schedule changes and delays” during the AM and PM rush hours on Thursday. Work crews are busy repairing the damaged Hall Tower switches east of Jamaica, but progress is slow as each of 200 wires must be checked manually and more damage may be found during the inspection. So far, the LIRR has maintained that the signal fire was “weather-related” as water from weekend rain shorted an electrical circuit and thus sparked a fire.

Although the signaling system is still being operated manually, train service is slowly reaching something resembling normal. The LIRR will be running 75 percent of the 144 trains that normally operate in the mornings, but the agency expects residual delays due to added station stops. Trains stopping at Jamaica will not be held for scheduled connections, and the full list of the 33 canceled westbound trains is right here.

For the PM rush, 68 percent of the LIRR’s 127 trains will be in service, but as with the morning, the LIRR warns of slower schedules. For connections to Oyster Bay stops, travel to Mineola. For service to West Hempstead, travel to Valley Stream for shuttle buses. For Patchogue, Speonk and Montauk, connect at Babylon.

Signal men checking control wires within a switch machine. Photo via Long Island Rail Road.

Meanwhile, John Mancini, the new transit beat writer for NY1, takes a look at the old technology in use at the Hall Signal tower. The irony of this week’s fire is that the MTA was planning to replace the 90-year-old Hall tower with a fully computerized switching system this November. He reports:

It will computerize switching for the 10 lines that run through the Jamaica hub, replacing a burned-out console designed in 1913. And while the new system is a high-tech upgrade, there’s no guarantee it can’t be knocked out in the same way. “If for instance, you were to have a fire, you would still obviously have damage. The difference with this system is that you’d be able to diagnose the problem faster, and bring it up faster,” said Long Island Rail Road Spokesman Joe Calderone.

LIRR officials say one of the advantages of moving to a computerized switching system is that many of the old system’s outdated components will be going away…

Friday may be the soonest business as usual could return. For now, the railroad finds itself relying on the oldest of methods to keep trains on the right track across each of 77 switches. “We simply block it with that yellow block you can see down between the running rail and the stock rail, and then there’s a spike,” said Long Island Rail Road Senior Vice President of Operations Ray Kenny.

The spike Kenny refers to keeps the switch from moving out of line. It’s an old, yet reliable technique that will also be necessary during the transition to the new system. And even as the LIRR powers ahead into the modern age, it appears that everything old is new again.

While the visible parts of transportation infrastructure such as subway stations show the wear and tear of old age, the decades-old signal systems are a greater cause for concern. The money to upgrade this technology can’t come soon enough.