Long Island Rail Road riders will have to brace themselves for another day of messed up service. Though MTA repair crews have been working nonstop since Sunday to fix damaged rails and switches after a train derailed just west of Jamaica Station – forcing numerous cancellations during the morning and evening rush hours and delays.

Newsday reports that LIRR President Helena Williams asked customers to hang on, “We have significant repair work to do. We are asking, again, for our customers to have patience. We know that that’s a lot to ask our customers, but they are a good New York, sturdy breed.” Newsday also described the extent of the damage:

The accident took place Sunday afternoon when the three rear cars of a 10-car train derailed – one of them jackknifing across three separate tracks and tearing up dirt and rubble in its path. The two rearmost cars needed to be cut apart at their coupling point with torches, and wooden blocks secured the jackknifed train at various points to keep it from tipping over. A crane was required to put the train back on track.
WCBS 2 says that federal investigators are also looking into the derailment, since it’s the second incident at the station in days (two trains bumped last week) and third this year (a derailment in March).

The following is an alert released by the MTA:

MTA Long Island Rail Road customers are advised to anticipate schedule changes that include canceled trains and delays in the morning as a result of a derailment that occurred in Jamaica on Sunday.

Over 200 LIRR employees have been working round-the-clock to re-rail the three train cars on the west end of Jamaica Station.   The work also includes repair to the damaged switches and track caused by the derailment.  Currently, three tracks remain out of service due to the accident.

“We are grateful to our customers for their patience during this time,” said LIRR President Helena Williams. “The Monday evening rush hour went smoothly under the circumstances. Our LIRR crews have been working nonstop to repair damaged rail and switches so that we can resume normal operations as soon as is safely possible. We are making progress and will keep our customers updated on our efforts.”

The Tuesday AM Rush service plan includes cancellation of 12 westbound AM rush trains.  As a result, there will be residual delays from added station stops and not all scheduled connections will be available at Jamaica Station to Penn Station, Flatbush Avenue-Brooklyn, Hunterspoint Avenue, and Long Island City.   LIRR station personnel will be available at Jamaica to assist customers with service information. The modified plan also includes service changes for the eastbound AM Rush, in particular 9 of the 15 eastbound reverse peak trains from Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, will be canceled.

Westbound AM Peak Service:

The following westbound AM Rush trains will be canceled Tuesday morning in the modified service plan:
6:25 AM train from Hicksville, scheduled to arrive in Penn Station at 7:11 AM
6:26 AM train from Massapequa Park, scheduled to arrive in Penn Station at 7:22 AM
6:57 AM train from Freeport, scheduled to arrive in Penn Station at 7:40 AM.
7:23 AM train from Hempstead, scheduled to arrive in Flatbush Avenue at 8:20 AM
7:29 AM train from Freeport, scheduled to arrive in Penn Station at 8:13 AM
7:40 AM train from Ronkonkoma, scheduled to arrive in Flatbush Avenue at 9:01 AM
7:43 AM train from Merrick, scheduled to arrive in Penn Station at 8:31 AM
8:03 AM train from Long Beach, scheduled to arrive in Penn Station at 8:54 AM
8:03 AM train from Valley Stream, scheduled to arrive in Penn Station at 8:42 AM
8:38 AM train from Long Beach, scheduled to arrive in Flatbush Avenue at 9:26 AM
 

The following trains will terminate in Jamaica Tuesday morning:
7:12 AM train from Hempstead, scheduled to arrive in Penn Station at 8:03 AM
7:16 AM train from West Hempstead, scheduled to arrive in Flatbush Ave. at 8:03 AM

Eastbound (Reverse Peak) Service:
LIRR eastbound, reverse peak service from Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn will be extremely limited — with one passenger train departing the Brooklyn terminal per hour.  Customers should  consider using Penn Station reverse peak service, which is expected to operate at regularly scheduled times;  however customers should anticipate delays en-route.

The following reverse peak trains will operate from Flatbush Avenue on Tuesday morning:
5:29 AM train from Flatbush Avenue, scheduled to arrive in Long Beach at 6:22 AM
5:52 AM train from Flatbush Avenue, scheduled to arrive in West Hempstead at 6:38 AM
6:48 AM train from Flatbush Avenue, scheduled to arrive in Long Beach at 7:36 AM
7:51 AM train from Flatbush Avenue, scheduled to arrive in Hempstead at 8:38 AM
8:37 AM train from Flatbush Avenue, scheduled to arrive in Hempstead at 9:26 AM
9:36 AM train from Flatbush Avenue, scheduled to arrive in Hempstead at 10:28 AM

(Eli Gefen – YWN Queens Ops’ Desk)