LIRR Service Suspended on 2 Lines Through Hicksville

Downed LIPA pole east of Mineola suspends service on Port Jefferson and Ronkonkoma branches.

Story by Joe Dowd.

A power line downed by the fierce winter storm overnight has suspended Long Island Rail Road Service on two major lines running through Hicksville.

Service is suspended in both directions east of Mineola on the Port Jefferson and Ronkonkoma branches, the railroad said. A broken LIPA utility pole which fell and is now leaning on electrical lines west of Hicksville Station is to blame, the LIRR reported.

LIPA told the railroad that it anticipates completing the work by 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Port Jefferson and Ronkonkoma trains are being combined and departing eastbound from Penn Station on the Ronkonkoma Branch trains' time.

These trains are being routed to Babylon, where customers will transfer for diesel train shuttle service to Hicksville, the railroad said. East of Hicksville, the Ronkonkoma branch provides service to Bethpage and Farmingdale; the Port Jefferson line provides service to Syosset and Huntington.

Source: levittown-ny.patch.com

LIRR Train Slams Into SUV Stopped On Tracks, Killing One

An LIRR train heading east on the Ronkonkoma line plowed into an SUV stopped on the tracks just west of the Central Islip station at about 4:30 a.m. this morning. A man inside the SUV was killed, and Newsday reports that the collision "caused the vehicle to erupt in a fireball." There were 31 passengers aboard the train at the time, and none of them were injured. But service on the Ronkonkoma line has been suspended in both directions between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma this morning.