March 21 timetables continue service reductions, restore no new trains

New timetables take effect on March 21 for all LIRR branches, making minor tweaks and changes during off-peak hours for trackwork but restoring no additional trains and continuing the rush hour service reductions that are currently in place.  The new timetables are published through May 22, 2022.

The LIRR said last month that "there are no plans to add service at this time" despite full peak fares for reduced rush hour service returning on March 1.  The current schedules represent only 79% of AM peak service levels and 77% of PM peak trains compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, and are a particularly sloppy mutilation of the pre-pandemic schedules, leaving many stations with large gaps in rush hour service that in some cases exceed times between trains during off-peak hours (especially on the Port Washington Branch).

Excavation for the Eastbound Reroute to separate Amtrak
and LIRR trains in HAROLD Interlocking underway in 2020
(Photo: MTA Construction & Development)

With the new schedules, several PM peak trains will depart NY-Penn Station up to three minutes earlier (or a minute or two later) and will depart from different tracks as trains are reshuffled to enable construction of the Eastbound Reroute in HAROLD Interlocking to continue.

During the morning rush hour, train 49 (the 8:16a superlocal train from Babylon) will become even more local and add a Woodside stop at 9:21a.  This will close an approximately 40 minute gap in connecting service between Jamaica and Woodside.  Trian 706, the 5:26a reverse-peak train to Hempstead, which has peculiarly always skipped Hollis, will now make all local stops including Hollis, closing a more than four hour gap in eastbound service there.

Regular midday off-peak service will be restored on the South Shore and between Jamaica and Brooklyn.  This includes the restoration of half-hourly service at Amityville, Copiague, and Lindenhurst as well as midday express service to Babylon for Patchogue and Speonk connections.  The LIRR had cut these services since the March 8 service cuts fiasco and left them in place after fairly extensive off-peak reductions for trackwork last spring.  The reductions allowed LIRR to single track between Amityville and Babylon, even though skipping these three stations wasn't really necessary to enable the single tracking and the railroad barely used these outages in recent weeks.

Other minor changes include early morning train 805, the 3:58a from Long Beach to Brooklyn-Atlantic Terminal will depart 4 minutes earlier and add stops at Rosedale, Laurelton, and Locust Manor, closing a two-hour gap in westbound service at these stations.  Long Beach, Hempstead, and West Hempstead trains will also leave up to 5 minutes earlier during middays for trackwork.

Midday service on the Oyster Bay Branch is being cut to bi-hourly for concrete tie work, further weakening service along that branch.

Be sure to check for the latest departure times for your commute on the All Timetables page or on TrainTime.