LIRR Announces Schedule Changes For Early 2020

Due to ongoing work at Penn Station, the Long Island Rail Road announced changes to the Winter 2020 schedule, which may impact riders during both the morning and evening rush hours.

The work at Penn will institute a new timetable from Jan. 6 through March 8, the LIRR said. It will result in the cancellation or rerouting of five of the 144 morning rush-hour trains, and six of the 130 evening trains. However, the LIRR is also adding five trains immediately before and after rush hours, as well as lengthening certain trains to accommodate more passengers.

The changes, the LIRR says, will reduce the total seating capacity by less than 1 percent.

In addition to the work at Penn, the LIRR is doing off-peak work at the Lynbrook Station, as well as working to add a third line between Floral Park and Hicksville. This work will also create schedule changes.

Rush hour changes will be similar to those put in place in January 2019 and January 2018, the LIRR said. Three morning peak trains to Penn Station will be rerouted to Atlantic Terminal, one morning peak train to Penn Station will terminate in Jamaica and one morning peak train to Penn Station will not operate. In the evening rush, two trains will originate at Atlantic Terminal instead of Penn Station, one train will originate at Jamaica instead of Penn Station, two trains will not operate and one evening reverse-peak train will be diverted to Atlantic Terminal.

“We’ve worked hard to provide the best possible options for the least amount of disruption while this critical work continues,” said LIRR President Phil Eng. “We appreciate our customers’ patience during this time and look forward to sharing the benefits of the more reliable infrastructure Amtrak is putting into place.”

Here are the full schedule changes for each branch:

Babylon Branch

• The 12:50 a.m. overnight train from Babylon to Penn Station will depart 10 minutes later at 1:00 a.m., and due to customer requests, will add stops at Lynbrook (1:39 a.m.) and Woodside (2:04 a.m.), arriving Penn Station at 2:15 a.m.
• The 5:43 a.m. train from Freeport, stopping at Baldwin (5:46 a.m.), Rockville Centre (5:49 a.m.), Jamaica (6:06 a.m.), and arriving Penn Station at 6:24 a.m. (originally added as an extra train) will continue to operate as part of our regular weekday schedule.
• The 6:56 a.m. express train from Wantagh, stopping at Bellmore, Merrick, then arriving at Penn Station at 7:43 a.m., will be rerouted to Atlantic Terminal (arriving at 7:45 a.m.), with an added stop at Jamaica for connecting service.
• The 7:44 a.m. train from Merrick, stopping at Freeport, Baldwin and Penn Station, will depart three minutes earlier at 7:41 a.m., and will terminate at Jamaica, where customers can board connecting trains to points west.
• The 8:03 a.m. local train from Babylon to Penn Station will add a stop at Forest Hills (8:58 a.m.).
• The 8:25 a.m. train from Freeport, stopping at Baldwin, Rockville Centre, Jamaica and Penn Station, will be rerouted to Atlantic Terminal (arriving at 9:07 a.m.).
• The 5:36 p.m. train from Penn Station to Babylon will add stops at Forest Hills (5:51 p.m.), Kew Gardens (5:53 p.m.), and Jamaica (6:01 p.m.) to accommodate customers who normally take a train that’s being diverted.
• The 5:45 p.m. train from Atlantic Terminal to Babylon will depart two minutes earlier at 5:43 p.m.
• An extra p.m. Peak train will depart Hunterspoint Avenue at 7:02 p.m., stopping at Jamaica, Rockville Centre, Baldwin and Freeport (arriving at 7:42 p.m.).
• The 5:35 p.m. westbound train from Babylon to Penn Station will make added stops at Forest Hills and Kew Gardens to accommodate customers from another diverted train.

Far Rockaway Branch

• The 5:54 a.m. train from Far Rockaway to Penn Station will be lengthened by two cars.
• The 8:10 a.m. train from Far Rockaway to Penn Station will not operate. Two cars will be added to the next scheduled train to Penn Station, departing Far Rockaway at 8:21 a.m. The LIRR also suggests customers consider the 7:49 a.m. train from Far Rockaway.
• The 5:32 p.m. train from Penn Station, due at Far Rockaway at 6:24 p.m., will instead originate at Jamaica at 5:52 p.m. Customers at Penn Station can take the 5:24 p.m. train to Freeport and change at Jamaica for connecting service. The 5:53 p.m. train from Far Rockaway to Penn Station will be rerouted to Atlantic Terminal instead of Penn Station. Customers can transfer at Jamaica for connecting service to Penn.

Hempstead Branch

• The 5:38 p.m. train from Penn Station, due at Hempstead at 6:36 p.m., will instead originate from Atlantic Terminal at 5:46 p.m. Customers at Penn Station can take the 5:33 p.m. train to Cold Spring Harbor and change at Jamaica for connecting service to Hempstead.
• The 7:05 p.m. train from Penn Station, due at Hempstead at 7:56 p.m., will instead originate from Atlantic Terminal at 7:09 p.m. Customers at Penn Station can take the 7:08 p.m. train to Babylon and change at Jamaica for connecting service to Hempstead.

Long Beach Branch

• The 7:56 a.m. train from Long Beach to Atlantic Terminal will operate express between Jamaica and Atlantic Terminal. Customers can transfer in Jamaica for connecting service to East New York and Nostrand Avenue.
• The 8:03 a.m. train from Long Beach to Penn Station will be rerouted to Atlantic Terminal (arriving at 8:54 a.m.), with an added stop at Jamaica for connecting service.
• The 10:57 p.m. train from Long Beach to Penn Station will add a Woodside stop (11:43p.m.) as the result of a customer request.

Port Jefferson Branch

• The 5:06 p.m. express from Penn Station, stopping at Syosset, Cold Spring Harbor and Huntington, not operate. The 5:17 p.m. train from Penn Station, which runs express to Westbury then Hicksville, will add stops at Syosset, Cold Spring Harbor and Huntington.
• The 5:33 p.m. train from Penn Station to Hicksville will be extended with added stops at Syosset (6:41 p.m.) and Cold Spring Harbor (6:46 p.m.).

Port Washington Branch

• An extra train to Great Neck will depart Penn Station at 3:40 p.m., stopping at Woodside, then making all local stops to Great Neck (arriving at 4:15 p.m.).
• The 5:50 p.m. train from Penn Station, due at Great Neck at 6:19 p.m., will be canceled and combined with the 5:56 p.m. train to Great Neck (arriving at 6:32 p.m.). Four cars will be added to the 5:56 p.m. train.
• The 6:44 p.m. westbound train from Great Neck to Penn Station will depart 3 minutes later at 6:47 p.m., and arrive in Penn Station 1 minute later than usual.

Ronkonkoma Branch

• The 5:12 a.m. train from Farmingdale, stopping at Bethpage (5:16 a.m.), Hicksville (5:22 a.m.), Mineola (5:30 a.m.), New Hyde Park (5:33 a.m.), Jamaica (5:46 a.m.), and arriving at Penn Station at 6:05 a.m. (originally added as an extra train) will continue to operate as part of our regular weekday schedule.
• The 5:19 a.m. train from Greenport to Ronkonkoma will depart 11 minutes later, at 5:30 a.m., and will arrive in Ronkonkoma at 6:53 a.m.
• The 6:48 a.m. westbound train from Ronkonkoma will depart 8 minutes later, at 6:56 a.m., also departing later from stations through Bethpage.
• The 6:55 a.m. westbound train from Ronkonkoma will depart 9 minutes later, at 7:04 a.m., also departing later from stations through Bethpage.
• The 7:21 a.m. westbound train from Ronkonkoma will depart 2 minutes earlier at 7:19 a.m., also departing earlier from stations Central Islip and Brentwood.
• The 7:29 a.m. westbound train from Ronkonkoma will depart 3 minutes later at 7:32 a.m., also departing later from stations through Farmingdale.
• The 7:50 a.m. westbound train from Farmingdale will depart 1 minute later at 7:51 a.m., also departing later from Bethpage Station.
• The 7:57 a.m. train from Ronkonkoma to Penn Station will add a stop at Kew Gardens (9:00 a.m.) to accommodate customers from another canceled train.
• An extra train to Ronkonkoma will depart Penn Station at 1:30 p.m., stopping at Woodside, Jamaica, Mineola, Hicksville, Bethpage, then local stops to Ronkonkoma (arriving at 2:50 p.m.).

West Hempstead Branch

• The 7:36 a.m. train from West Hempstead to Penn Station will depart 2 minutes earlier, at 7:34 a.m.

In addition to those rush hour changes, there are other scheduled changes to allow for more work.

During midday off-peak hours, overnights and on weekends, one of two tracks along the Main Line between New Hyde Park and Hicksville will be out of service to allow for work on the LIRR Expansion Project. Some Huntington trains will depart 11-19 minutes later. Some Ronkonkoma Branch trains will depart up to 18 minutes earlier or 30 minutes later than usual.

To allow for Lynbrook Station improvements being made in coordination with post-Superstorm Sandy Long Beach Branch infrastructure restoration and resiliency work, one of two tracks will be out of service during weekday middays between Valley Stream and Long Beach and between Valley Stream and Rockville Centre. As a result of this work, departure times for some weekday, midday trains on the Babylon, Far Rockaway, Long Beach, Montauk and West Hempstead branches will be adjusted between 1 minute and 14 minutes.