6 LIRR Trains For Northeast Queens To Be Canceled Until September

BAYSIDE, QUEENS -- Commuters relying on the Long Island Rail Road's Port Washington Line to get to and from Northeast Queens can expect a new MTA-induced headache for the rest of the summer.

Six weekday trains - four from Penn Station and two from Port Washington - will be canceled along the branch serving the Elmhurst, Flushing, Bayside and Great Neck areas from July 23 to Sep. 3, the MTA announced Wednesday. Workers will spend that time relocating hundreds of feet of tracks in Sunnyside to create the entrance of a new tunnel to Grand Central Station.

The tunnel, built underneath the Sunnyside Yard, will connect Grand Central to the Harold Interlocking, the nation's busiest railroad junction, for LIRR service to and from Penn Station, the MTA said.

"After this step is completed, the contract to build the tunnel entrance, which will begin active construction this fall, is the last major contract needed for the start of service," said Janno Lieber, the MTA's chief development officer.

The 8:21 a.m. local train out of Penn Station and the 8:45 a.m. express train from Port Washington will both be nixed in the new schedule, according to the MTA. Riders can take alternate trains out of Penn Station at 7:55 a.m. or 8:51 a.m. and those leaving from Port Washington will have alternates at 8:18 a.m and 9:11 a.m.

During evening rush hour, the 4:22 p.m. and 5:26 p.m. trains from Penn Station to Great Neck, Manhasset, Plandome and Port Washington will both be cancelled. Alternate trains to Great Neck at 4:29 p.m. and 5:29 p.m. will make additional stops at the three stations, the MTA said.

The 5 p.m. train from Port Washington, making all local stops except Plandome and Murray Hill, will also be canceled. Alternate trains will leave Port Washington at 4:36 p.m. and 5:23 p.m. and another train leaving from Great Neck at 5 p.m. will also make local stops from Flushing-Main Street and Penn Station.

Finally, the 7:01 train from Penn Station to Bayside, Great Neck, Manhasset, Plandome and Port Washington will also be canceled. An alternate train to Great Neck will leave at 7:14 p.m. and make extra stops in Manhasset, Plandome and Port Washington, according to the MTA.

LIRR President Phillip Eng said the agency chose to do the construction over a six-week period in the summer "when rush hour commuting is generally lower."

"I thank our customers for bearing with us as the MTA makes this historic improvement to the railroad," Eng said.

The new MTA schedule will also bring back the 5:40 p.m. Amtrack train along the Port Washington branch from Penn Station to Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck and Great Neck. The line was one of five that were temporarily shut down since January to accommodate track work at Penn Station.

Click here to view the new Port Washington schedule in full.

Lead photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images