Extreme changes to limit LIRR service

Weekend service on the Long Island Rail Road will be extremely limited in the coming weeks as the LIRR Modernization Project brings signal and switch-control work to Jamaica Station.

The agency advised riders to use the LIRR for essential business travel only during the weekends of Oct. 23 and 24 and Nov. 6 and 7, as service will be greatly reduced, especially between Jamaica and Penn stations. The service interruption will pose a significant inconvenience for Long Islanders heading west on Nov. 7 for the New York City Marathon.

First responders and service employees with no other alternatives should use the LIRR during those two weekends, the agency said, but riders traveling for recreational purposes should consider using the Port Washington Branch or other travel alternatives.

The LIRR warned riders that, on those weekends, train movement through Jamaica Station will be limited to two tracks, one east and one west, and only three trains per hour in each direction from the south shore. Buses and subway service will replace LIRR trains.

There will be no LIRR service between Mineola and Jamaica stations, Queens Village and Jamaica, and Jamaica and Atlantic Terminal. Only three trains will operate each hour between Jamaica and Penn stations, and buses will replace trains between Mineola and Jamaica and Queens Village and Jamaica on a number of LIRR branches. Some riders will be required to use the E subway train between Jamaica and Penn stations. Travelers can expect up to 70 minutes of additional travel time.