Truck Crash, Broken Rail Cause Massive LIRR Delays

Long Island Rail Road commuters were facing nearly two-hour delays through Mineola due to a broken rail as well as a truck striking an LIRR bridge Wednesday morning.

The LIRR said the repairs have been completed and the trains are now departing on their regularly scheduled track. Delays, however, are still averaging around 90 to 100 minutes as of noon Wednesday. Customers traveling eastbound are advised to delay their trip and use alternate branches until the delays phase out.

The truck struck a bridge near Merillon Avenue at around 8 a.m. The broken rail, which occurred east of the Mineola station, has affected the train schedule since the start of the early morning commute, according to LIRR alerts.

An LIRR spokesman told Newsday that crews were out earlier fixing the broken rail, which led to congestion on the one available track. “I can’t stress enough how this morning’s commute would be eased if we had a third track in place," the spokesman told the publication.

Branches not affected by the truck crash or broken rail also faced delays and congestion due to late-arriving connections.

Passengers took to social media to voice their complaints. Some said they were stuck in the train cars for up to three hours.

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