ICYMI: Weekend Track Work Planned for Port Washington Line This Weekend

Passengers using the Long Island Rail Road can expect delays during the first two weekends in October.

That’s when the LIRR will perform scheduled track maintenance work on the Port Washington Branch. The work will result in significant services changes for both eastbound and westbound service, officials said.

Beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday service on the Port Washington Branch will be reduced from half-hourly to hourly so that LIRR workers can perform switch renewal work between Bayside and Great Neck. The track work and the hourly service will continue into Sunday when at 3 p.m., the LIRR must suspend train service and substitute bus service between Bayside and Port Washington stations through midnight.

Over the same two-day period, Sperry Rail Testing will be performed between Great Neck Station and Port Washington Station. The Sperry Rail Car, a bright yellow vehicle fitted with ultrasonic and induction test equipment, is designed to detect internal rail defects not readily visible to the eye. Defects that are found will be corrected immediately by a crew of LIRR track maintenance workers. The Sperry Rail Car is used twice a year to inspect approximately 500 miles of LIRR track.

Here’s what to expect over the next two weekends:

Port Washington Branch: Saturday, Oct. 4:
Eastbound and Westbound
Customers are advised that trains on the Port Washington Branch will operate with reduced hourly service in both directions beginning at 12:26 PM through the remainder of the day.

Port Washington Branch: Sunday, Oct. 5:
Eastbound
Reduced hourly service continues with through 3 PM when the work will require the suspension of service from Bayside to Port Washington through midnight. Customers traveling to stations Douglaston through Port Washington between 3 PM and Midnight will transfer to buses at Bayside to complete their trip east. They should expect up to 35 minutes added travel time.

Westbound
Reduced hourly service continues with buses replacing trains at 3 PM from Bayside to Port Washington. Customers at stations Port Washington through Douglaston will board buses at their stations and transfer to trains at Bayside to complete their trip west. Westbound buses will depart up to 38 minutes earlier than normal.

Weekend of Saturday, Oct. 11 and Sunday, Oct. 12
Beginning on Saturday, Oct. 11, one of two tracks in the Woodside Station area will be out of service for 27 hours to allow LIRR workers to resurface an important switch resurfacing at an interlocking in the area. During this time, Port Washington Branch train service will be reduced to hourly. Then on Sunday, Oct. 12 from 3 p.m. until midnight, both tracks will be taken out of service to complete the work and buses will be substituted for train service.

Eastbound
With the suspension of train service on Sunday, Oct. 12 at 3 p.m., Port Washington Branch customers will board eastbound Ronkonkoma Branch trains at Penn Station and transfer to buses at Woodside to complete their trip east. Regular train service will resume after midnight.

Westbound
Customers traveling between 3 p.m. and midnight boarding at station Port Washington through Main Street-Flushing will board buses and transfer to trains at Woodside Station to complete their trip west.

For More Information
Customers should consult the special Port Washington Branch schedules, one for the weekend of Oct. 4-5 and one for the weekend of Oct. 11-12, which are available at LIRR terminals and local branch stations. The special schedules are also available on the MTA LIRR website at www.mta.info/lirr. Customers can also call 511, the New York State Travel Information line, and say: Long Island Rail Road. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, use your preferred relay service provider or the free 711 relay to reach LIRR at 511.