Buses Replace Some Ronkonkoma Trains April 17-19 (Rail Inspection Work)

The MTA Long Island Rail Road will provide bus service in place of some trains on the Ronkonkoma Branch on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, April 17 through 19, as track inspections are made by the Sperry Rail Car.

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.

Thursday and Friday, April 17 & April 18
Sperry Rail car testing will take place between Ronkonkoma and Greenport. Passengers on two eastbound and two westbound mid-day trains will be affected.

Eastbound
Customers on the 9:02 AM train from Ronkonkoma to Greenport and the 1:42 PM train from Ronkonkoma to Riverhead will board buses at Ronkonkoma to complete their trips.
Westbound
Customers on the 11:42 AM train from Greenport to Ronkonkoma and the 3:19 PM train from Riverhead to Ronkonkoma will board buses at their stations and transfer to trains at Ronkonkoma to complete their trips.

Customers should expect increased travel time of up to 25 minutes.

Saturday, April 19
Sperry Rail car testing will take place between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma. Passengers on four eastbound and four westbound early morning trains will be affected.

Eastbound
Customers on the 12:14 AM, 1:16 AM, 2:53 AM and 4:43 AM trains from Penn Station to Ronkonkoma will transfer to buses at Hicksville for stations Wyandanch through Ronkonkoma. Bethpage and Farmingdale customers will stay on their trains to their stations.
Westbound
Customers on the 12:44 AM, 2:10 AM, 3:45 AM and 5:37 AM trains from Ronkonkoma will board buses at their stations Ronkonkoma through Wyandanch and transfer to trains at Hicksville to complete their trips. Bethpage and Farmingdale customers will board their normally scheduled trains at their stations.

For additional travel information, customers can contact the LIRR’s 24-hour Travel Information Center in Suffolk County at 631-231-LIRR, in Nassau County at 516-822-LIRR or in New York City at 718-217-LIRR. The Travel Information Center’s TDD telephone number for the hearing impaired is 718-558-3022.