LIRR: Avoid Ronkonkoma Branch This Weekend

RONKONKOMA, NY — The Long Island Rail Road is warning train riders to avoid the Ronkonkoma branch this weekend. Workers will be eliminating the Urban Avenue grade crossing in Westbury on Saturday and Sunday, the transit agency said. Therefore, there will be no service between Mineola and Hicksville.

Eastbound Main Line service will terminate at Mineola. Customers traveling to stations east of Hicksville on the Ronkonkoma and Port Jefferson branches will board an electric train from Penn Station to Babylon and transfer in Babylon for a diesel shuttle train to Bethpage and Hicksville. At Hicksville, customers will detrain and board an hourly Ronkonkoma train, the LIRR said.

Westbound Main Line service, meanwhile, will begin at Mineola. Customers boarding at stations east of Hicksville will have hourly service from Ronkonkoma to Hicksville. At Hicksville, customers will detrain and board a diesel shuttle to Bethpage and Babylon. From Babylon, there will be a connecting westbound electric train service to Penn Station.

Furthermore, some Friday night and Monday morning trains will also be affected.

"Customers are advised to use the Montauk, Long Beach, Far Rockaway, Port Washington, Hempstead, and West Hempstead branches, where normal weekend service intervals will be provided on adjusted schedules," the LIRR said. "Semi-express trains have been added between Penn Station and Babylon to connect with the shuttle train service to and from Hicksville."

This wknd, July 20-21, there will be no train service btwn Hicksville & Mineola as we eliminate the Urban Avenue grade crossing in New Cassel. Avoid Ronkonkoma & Pt. Jeff Branches. Take Babylon, Hempstead or Montauk branches instead. More info here: https://t.co/uJccTRgx51 pic.twitter.com/UpHMPhSzdL
— LIRR (@LIRR) July 16, 2019

The street-level crossing in Westbury is one of eight along the agency's Main Line that are being eliminated as part of the so-called "LIRR Expansion Project." It will be replaced with a new bridge that will hold three tracks, and a two-lane underpass for vehicle traffic. There will also be a pedestrian sidewalk.

"The addition of a third track will enable increased service capacity along our busy Main Line Corridor, and the elimination of the grade crossing will bring immediate benefits in terms of improved service reliability; a safer and uninterrupted flow of traffic; and reduced noise from train horns," the agency said in a release.