Eastbound Long Island Rail Road trains are rolling again after service was suspended during the Wednesday evening rush hour commute due to a string of weather-related issues sparked by a nor’easter while the LIRR is still recovering from Superstorm Sandy.
Service remained suspended on the Hempstead Branch as of 8 p.m. and buses are replacing trains betwen Lynbrook and Island Park through 11 p.m., the LIRR said. The signal troubles and other equipment issues have caused some trains to be cancelled and others to be delayed more than an hour.
Downed trees first led to the suspension of service on the Port Washington Branch. Penn Station has since been reopened after it was closed to prevent overcrowding while as commuters waited for backed-up trains.
LIRR service had previously been suspended for days after Sandy struck last week. A limited number of trains have since been running because two of the four East River tunnels were flooded in the storm.
Trains are not runnin on the hard-hit Long Beach Branch and crews are have been working to repair a washout on tracks in Mattituck.
The nor’easter, dubbed Athena, hit LI while more than 175,000 homes were still blacked out more than a week after Sandy.
For more information, visit www.mta.info/lirr or call 511.