Service Restored On LIRR Ronkonkoma Branch
BRENTWOOD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Service has been restored on the Ronkonkoma Branch between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma after a report of a broken rail east of Brentwood.
Buses were being provided for commuters and a comfort train was available at the Farmingdale Station for customers waiting for eastbound bus service.
The extreme cold is apparently to blame for several incidents on the rails this past week.
"There's no getting away from it if the temperatures continue like this," MTA spokesman Salvatore Arena told 1010 WINS. "When you get temperatures 20 degrees or below is when you'll see this."
Arena said both the LIRR and Metro-North Railroad have reported eight incidents since the bitter blast started.
"The rail is more brittle in the winter so a crack would appear on the rail and it's not to say you couldn't run safely over it, in fact, typically it could be an engineer who is reporting the condition because he's just passed over it," Arena said. "But the idea is to get it out there as quickly as you can, mend it temporarily if it's during the rush hour so you can get through the rush hour and then get the team out there to replace it that very day. That's what we've been doing all week."
For more information, visit www.mta.info.
