The Long Island Rail Road has now resumed full restoration of morning
and evening rush-hour service, after weeks of cancelled, combined
trains and overcrowding following superstorm Sandy.
According to the MTA, this change in service is a result of Amtrak restoring the signal system capacity in one of its two flood-damaged East River tunnels.
"Amtrak is continuing their work to replace the damaged signal
system in the other remaining tunnel to restore full train capacity to
their East River tunnels," according to the MTA. "LIRR signal workers
are assisting Amtrak in that effort by rewiring one of Amtrak's five
new signal cases for the tunnels."
This will mark the first full service rush hour since Sandy hit six weeks ago. Near-normal service was restored on Nov. 26, following partial restoration of service on the badly damaged Long Beach branch.
The second tunnel signal system is expected to be restored to full capacity in time for the Christmas holiday.
“This is a real holiday present for commuters in a busy travel season,”
Long Island Rail Road Commuter Council Chair Mark Epstein said.
“Throughout this ordeal, the LIRR Commuters Council has had three goals:
Better and quicker Communication, Cooperation, and Conclusion. Since
our call for same, we have seen Amtrak reach out and enlist the help and
cooperation of the LIRR. That has resulted in the announcement of a
quicker conclusion to the restoration of service."
LIRR customers complained on Patch sites about the partially-restored service, which resulted in longer commutes and overcrowding.
In a letter to the editor
to Patch, Rena Barnett of Rockville Centre discussed the conditions on
the Babylon line, saying it was "standing-room-only on the morning and
evening rush hour trains."
She wrote, "The new LIRR trains were not designed to accommodate
people standing up and there are insufficient handholds. When people
are in the aisles, the trains become only something short of a death
trap as there is no easy ingress or egress."
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LIRR Resumes Full Service
Amtrak continues repairs in one East River Tunnel; expects to replace signal system to another by next week.
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pat conway June 12, 2013 at 02:10 pm
just reading Jane Goodall with my son for school and came across this quote of an amazing woman…Read More "every individual matters, every individual has a role to play, every individual makes a difference." that is what makes our nation, our village so great everyone has an opinion whether we agree with it or not. It just saddens me to think some may not voice their opinion in the future because of the rather harsh comments which I'm sure were just meant to get a point across rather than be hurtful. Garden City residents are not afraid to get involved, to stand up for what they believe in and I am proud to live here.
GcSupporter#2 June 12, 2013 at 04:15 pm
"If there is no discipline, there is anarchy. Good citizenship demands attention to…Read More responsibilities as well as rights."
- Principal Joe Clark
pat conway June 12, 2013 at 05:00 pm
Thank you GcSupporter#2 I love quotes! tells so much about the person and their beliefs and life...I…Read More had to look up Principal Joe Clark after that....definitely a man I'd like to learn more about. I always try to use quotes with my children and their school work - I think the spoken and written word of others is so important!
Carisa Giardino (Editor) June 6, 2013 at 12:15 pm
Thanks Julie for letting everyone know about this important event right here in Garden City!
Carisa Giardino (Editor) June 5, 2013 at 03:16 pm
Thanks for posting Anna. You should post this to our map!…Read More http://gardencity.patch.com/groups/week-ahead/p/holding-a-yard-sale-in-garden-city-add-it-to-our-map
The 8:23 Express from Wantagh ran Express from Freeport to Jamaica, as it was originally scheduled, then on to Penn. There was no crowding, in fact my car had just about exactly 50% seat occupancy into Jamaica. While "comfortable" that is not healthy for a rush hour train, because it indicates poor scheduling and pressure on future ticket prices to make up for this inefficiency. After leaving Freeport, the train announcements were still programmed for the local stops at Baldwin and RVC, and it was funny to hear the announcement: "This station is Baldwin" as the train went speeding past the platform at 75 MPH. In Jamaica, the transfer to the 8:53 Hunterspoint Avenue train was vintage LIRR performance. Instead of coming in on Track #1, it was the following train on Trank #2, plus it was 8 minutes late, you know, due to "equipment trouble". We could tell things had once again returned to "normal" on the LIRR. On the Hunterspoint Avenue train, I had a 4-seat compartment all to myself, despite the fact the train was only three cars long (double-decker Diesel). Has the MTA finally priced the LIRR out of sustainability?