LIRR Planning Service Increases for Ronkonkoma Line

The MTA Long Island Railroad announced it plans to increase service by investing $29 million in rider initiatives that include extra trains on the Ronkonkoma line.

Beginning in November, the LIRR intends to run trains every half hour instead of every hour on the weekends between Farmingdale and Penn Station. The extra trains will run westbound between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m., and eastbound between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

By March 2013 the plan will extend to include half-hourly service westbound from Farmingdale to Penn Station on weekdays after the morning peak times. 

The extra service is purportedly in response to a swell in ridership during those times, and to increase service frequency, according to the agency's website. Part of the $29 million investment is aimed at restoring service that was originally cut or scaled down during the agency's 2010 fiscal crisis.