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A Few Clouds Long Beach city officials call on LIRR to restore service cuts
Work on Eastside Access Project leads to temporary suspension of some eastbound rush hour service
Long Beach city officials are calling on the MTA Long Island Rail Road to restore express train service that has been suspended for the next month, as the agency’s East Side Access Project affects some eastbound evening rush hour service.
As a tunnel-boring machine performs excavation work on the Queens side of the East River tunnels, an important switch was taken out of service on July 9, according to the MTA.
The loss of the switch and the access it provides to one of the eastbound tracks will temporarily reduce the LIRR’s “operational flexibility and significantly increase the impact of a service disruption should one occur.”
The work eliminates one of the three eastbound tracks normally used during the p.m. peak period. Long Island Rail Road trains will operate using two main tracks between Penn Station and Jamaica instead of three during this time period, and the reduction in capacity has resulted in the cancellation or combination of three evening rush hour trains — two on the Babylon Branch and one on the Long Beach Branch.
Additionally, the schedules of four evening rush hour trains have been modified to allow eight other evening rush hour trains to be re-routed to the two remaining main line tracks.
The MTA said that the construction has been designed to allow train schedules to return to normal in the event that the tunneling and track work is completed earlier than anticipated.
Members of the Long Beach City Council, however, criticized the temporary suspension of service, and said that while they recognize the need for the work, the service cuts punish residents who rely on the express train and cause a huge inconvenience.
“The express train is sorely missed by many of our residents, trying to get out of the hot city and back home to Long Beach,” Councilwoman Fran Adelson said in a statement. “While we laud the LIRR for their recent announcement of adding additional peak trains later this year, we are disappointed in their decision to cut express service for commuters during the middle of the summer.”
City Council President Len Torres said in a statement that such service should never be cut in the summer month.
