LIRR Thanksgiving Service Plan Info
Here is the Thanksgiving service plan info for the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR):
The busy holiday season is fast approaching and the MTA Long Island Rail Road is ready with additional service to get travelers where they want to be starting with Thanksgiving. Avoid traffic and parking fees by taking the LIRR. Additional trains will operate on Wednesday, November 21 and on Thanksgiving Day, November 22 and, as an extra bonus, off-peak fares will be in effect for the entire four-day holiday weekend.
As a reminder for Long Beach customers, due to the severe flood damage to the electrical substations on the Long Beach Branch and train yard by Superstorm Sandy, the LIRR will be providing diesel shuttle service between Long Beach and Lynbrook on Wednesday, Thanksgiving Eve, and the Friday after Thanksgiving between 5 AM and 9 PM. Shuttle bus service will be provided on Thanksgiving Day and the weekend between Long Beach and Lynbrook from 5 AM to 9 PM. Please consult the LIRR’s website at www.mta.info/lirr for details. The LIRR is continuing its work to repair three of four electrical substations damaged by Sandy, along with switches and other vital equipment, to return electric train service back to the branch as soon as possible.
On Black Friday, November 23, traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year, the LIRR will run a near-normal weekday train schedule even though off-peak fares will be in effect all day – including the special Family Fare discount. Under the Family Fare program, up to four children, ages 5-11, can ride trains that day for the advance purchase fare of 75 cents each (one-way) when accompanied by a fare-paying parent or guardian. Weekly and monthly ticket holders just pay for the kids. Children under five ride free.
Additionally, the Thanksgiving weekend marks the start of extra weekend trains to make travel to and from New York City a snap for shopping, dining and entertainment. Beginning the Saturday after Thanksgiving and continuing through New Year’s Day, customers will find the LIRR the most convenient way to take in all New York has to offer. The added weekend service for the holiday season can be found in new LIRR timetables dated Monday, November 12. The six holiday service weekends are November 24-25, December 1-2, December 8-9, December 15-16, December 22-23 and December 29-30.
So, in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, relax and leave the driving to the LIRR. To ensure easy rail travel, customers are advised to follow these travel tips:
Purchase before you go. Round trip tickets, including MetroCards for connecting subway and bus service, can be purchased in advance in order to save time and avoid lines at LIRR ticket windows and New York City Transit MetroCard windows and ticket machines.
Use one of the LIRR’s extra trains. On Thanksgiving Eve, Wednesday, November 21, there will be nine extra trains departing Penn Station between 2:08 PM and 3:48 PM and one extra train from Hunterspoint Avenue at 4:06 PM for customers leaving work early for the holiday.
Be sober and responsible. Open alcoholic beverage containers will not be allowed on LIRR trains, stations and on platforms from 8:00 PM, Wednesday, November 21 through 5:00 AM, Thursday (Thanksgiving Day), November 22. MTA Police will enforce this restriction.
Wednesday, November 21:
On Wednesday, November 21, the extra afternoon service from Penn Station includes: three trains operating on the Port Jefferson Branch (one to Hicksville, two to Huntington), three on the Babylon Branch, and one each on the Port Washington Branch to Great Neck and on the Far Rockaway Branch. An extra train will depart Hunterspoint Avenue on the Montauk Branch.
Port Jefferson Branch to Hicksville/Huntington:
2:08 PM stopping at Jamaica, Mineola, then all stops to Huntington
2:29 PM stopping at Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Jamaica, New Hyde Park, then all stops to Huntington
3:24 PM stopping at Jamaica, Mineola, Westbury and Hicksville
Babylon Branch:
2:32 PM express to Lynbrook, then all stops to Babylon
3:00 PM stopping at Jamaica, Rockville Centre, then all stops to Babylon
3:31PM express to Rockville Centre, then all stops to Babylon
Port Washington Branch to Great Neck:
3:40 PM stopping at Woodside, Flushing-Main St., then all stops to Great Neck
Far Rockaway Branch:
3:48 PM express to Locust Manor, then all stops to Far Rockaway
Montauk Branch:
The eastbound Montauk train that normally operates Fridays-only will operate on Wednesday, November 21. The train is the 4:06 PM from Hunterspoint Avenue, stopping at Jamaica, then operating express to Westhampton, making all local stops to Montauk. The 4:01 PM train from Penn Station to Huntington connects with the Montauk train at Jamaica.
Thanksgiving Day, November 22:
Throughout Thanksgiving Day, a holiday schedule will be in effect. Twenty-two extra trains are being added to the holiday schedule for those attending the Parade or visiting their families – including nine extra westbound and 14 extra eastbound trains. Cars will also be added to select trains to accommodate holiday travelers.
As we continue our recovery work from the severe flood damage on the Long Beach Branch and in the train yard, shuttle bus service will be provided between Long Beach and Lynbrook from 5 AM and 9 PM on Thanksgiving Day, as well as on Saturday and Sunday.
Westbound
Babylon Branch (two trains from Wantagh):
7:01 AM and 7:45 AM trains from Wantagh, making all stops to Lynbrook, Jamaica and Penn Station
Montauk Branch (from Speonk):
12:21 PM from Speonk, making all stops to Babylon, Jamaica and Penn Station
Ronkonkoma Branch (two added trains):
6:10 AM and 7:10 AM trains from Ronkonkoma, making all stops to Hicksville, Mineola, Jamaica, Woodside and Penn Station
Port Jefferson Branch:
6:01 AM from Port Jefferson making all stops to Huntington, Jamaica and Penn Station
Port Washington Branch (three added trains):
7:10 AM, 8:10 AM and 9:10 AM trains from Port Washington making all stops to Flushing-, Main St., Woodside and Penn Station.
Eastbound
Between 11:33 AM and 1:36 PM, 14 extra trains will depart from Penn Station to accommodate customers returning from the parade. Four of the extra trains will operate on the Babylon Branch, four on the Ronkonkoma Branch, three on the Port Washington Branch, two on the Port Jefferson Branch and one will operate on the Montauk Branch to Speonk. Branch timetables dated November 12-December 16 contain regular eastbound departures from Penn Station, as well as the times of the extra trains.
The extra eastbound trains from Penn Station include:
Babylon Branch (four trains to Babylon):
11:54 AM, 12:30 PM, 12:56 PM, and 1:22 PM trains from Penn Station, stopping at Jamaica, Rockville Centre, then all local stops to Babylon.
Montauk Branch (to Speonk):
6:09 AM train from Penn Station, stopping at Jamaica, Freeport, and then all local stops to Speonk.
Ronkonkoma Branch (four added trains):
11:33 AM train from Penn Station, stopping at Woodside, Jamaica, Hicksville, Bethpage, Farmingdale, then all stops to Ronkonkoma.
12:33 PM train from Penn Station, stopping at Woodside, Jamaica, New Hyde park, Mineola, Carle Place, Hicksville, Bethpage, Farmingdale, then all stops to Ronkonkoma.
1:05 PM train from Penn Station, stopping at Woodside, Jamaica, New Hyde Park, then all stops the Farmingdale.
1:34 PM train from Penn Station, stopping at Woodside, Jamaica, Hicksville, Bethpage, Farmingdale, then all stops to Ronkonkoma.
Port Jefferson/Huntington Branch (two added trains):
12:03 PM train from Penn Station, stopping at Jamaica, New Hyde Park, then all stops to Huntington.
12:07 PM train from Penn Station, stopping at Jamaica, Mineola, Hicksville then all stops to Port Jefferson.
Port Washington Branch (three added trains):
11:36 AM, 12:36 PM, and the 1:36 PM trains from Penn Station, stopping at Woodside, Flushing-main St., and then all stops to Port Washington.
Friday, November 23:
LIRR trains will operate on a near-normal weekday schedule on Friday, November 23 – with the exception of the diesel shuttle service on the Long Beach Branch from 5 AM to 9 PM. Off-peak fares will be in effect all day Friday, making it more economical to travel to the City for holiday shopping and events.
Saturday & Sunday, November 24-25:
The LIRR will be operating on a regular weekend schedule with off-peak fares on Saturday and Sunday, November 24 & 25, with the exception of shuttle bus service for Long Beach Branch customers being offered between Long Beach and Lynbrook from 5 AM through 9 PM.
Starting Saturday, November 24 the LIRR is adding extra weekend trains to make travel to and from New York City more convenient for shopping, dining and entertainment. The added weekend holiday service continues on five additional weekends – December 1-2, December 8-9, December 15-16, December 22-23 and December 29-30.
The extra trains are on the following branches:
Port Washington Branch:
Eight extra trains are being added to Saturday and Sunday schedule four westbound trains between 9 AM and 1 PM and four eastbound trains between 4 PM and 8 PM. These additional trains means the LIRR will be providing half-hourly service during this holiday travel time period.
Port Jefferson Branch:
The LIRR will add one overnight train between Penn Station and Huntington to accommodate customers taking in late night events in the city during the holidays.
Babylon Branch:
The LIRR will add one overnight train between Penn Station and Babylon to accommodate customers taking in late night events in the city during the holidays.
Ronkonkoma Branch:
Three westbound trains between Farmingdale and Penn Station will be added to Saturday and Sunday schedules between 10 AM and 1 PM and three westbound trains between Penn Station and Farmingdale will be added to the weekend schedules between 4 PM and 7 PM. These particular trains were added with the started with the new November 12 timetable and after the holidays will remain part of the regular schedule to permanently enhance service along this busy corridor.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Metro-North Thanksgiving Service Plan Info
Here is the complete Thanksgiving service plan for the Metro-North Railroad:
Make Metro-North Railroad part of your transportation plan for the long Thanksgiving weekend and relax! Skip the holiday traffic and avoid high gas prices.
Get a jump on the weekend with extra departures on Thanksgiving Eve (Wednesday, November 21), beginning at 1 PM. With most people leaving early, some PM peak trains will be combined or eliminated. All extra and canceled trains are shown in the public timetable available on mta.info.
On Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 22, there is a special Sunday schedule, with extra cars and trains. There’s extra AM inbound service for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. And there will be lots of late morning and early afternoon outbound service to get people home or to the folks’ house for that holiday dinner. In the evening, there is plenty of service to get back into the city.
On Black Friday, customers should not expect a normal weekday train schedule, but there is plenty of service for both shoppers and those who have to work. On Friday, November 23, Metro-North will operate a Saturday schedule with a lot of extra service during the AM and PM peaks, as well as extra inbound trains between 10 AM and 2 PM. Off-peak fares will be in effect Friday.
On Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving, Metro-North will operate on a regular weekend schedule including the extra Shoppers’ Specials, which begin THIS weekend, November 17 and 18.
On the New Haven Line, there will be 18 Shoppers’ Special trains on Saturdays and 14 on Sundays. On the Harlem Line, there are four Sunday-only Shoppers’ Specials. On the Hudson Line; there are three Saturday-only express Shoppers’ Specials. Shoppers’ Specials run weekends through Sunday Dec. 30. See the printed timetables or go to mta.info.
HOLIDAY HINTS:
Purchase train tickets well before the holiday because on Thanksgiving Day you must have your train ticket before boarding the train at Grand Central Terminal or Harlem-125th Street Station.
Consider an off-peak 10-trip ticket, if you are traveling with the family or a group of friends and get 10 trips for the price of nine. They are good for groups traveling together.
Off-peak fares will be in effect for the entire four-day holiday period.
Take advantage of free parking at many stations. (Check signs, or call 511 for more information.)
Pick up a special Thanksgiving Holiday Timetable at the Grand Central Information Booth, at outlying ticket offices, and at mta.info/mnr.
Or use Metro-North Train Time ™ (mta.info/mnr) or Coocoo (coocoo.com) for real time train info on your smart phone or computer.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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S.I. Railway Thanksgiving Service Plan Info
Here is the service plan info for the Staten Island Railway for the Thanksgiving holiday:
Staten Island customers looking to get a head start on their holiday weekend will be able to catch earlier afternoon express train service on Wednesday, November 21, with extra SIR trains added earlier in the afternoon beginning at 2:31 p.m. from the St. George Ferry Terminal. There will be one express train and one local train awaiting every boat until 7:50 p.m.
On Thanksgiving Day, November 22, SIR will operate a Sunday schedule, while on Black Friday, trains will run on a regular weekday schedule.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Return Of The H Train
Subway enthusiasts recall the days of when the MTA publicly referred to the Rockaway Shuttle as the H train. Although it still referred to such within the agency, the public saw it as the S. Well brace yourself, the H is coming back out to the public!
Truth be told it is just a free shuttle service the agency has provided for residents on the Rockaway Peninsula. Here is more via the press release I received:
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that residents of the Rockaway Peninsula will be able to use a free rail shuttle service starting at 4 a.m. Tuesday, November 20. The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) will operate the service using subway cars that were trucked to the Rockaways after tracks connecting them to the rest of Queens were damaged by Hurricane Sandy.
The newly-named H train will operate every 15 minutes between the Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue station and the Beach 90-Holland station, making all intermediate stops using a connection known as the Hammels Wye that is not normally used for service. Stations west of Beach 90-Holland suffered extensive damage to signal systems and cannot yet accommodate passenger service.
The H train will run between 4 a.m. and 1 a.m. daily, leaving time for overnight maintenance and inspection of the line. Rockaways customers who take the H to the Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue station can use the free shuttle bus from there to the Howard Beach station on the A train, connecting them to the rest of the MTA New York City Transit subway system.
“The A train tracks from Howard Beach to the Rockaways were almost completely destroyed by the storm, and replacing them is a tremendous undertaking,” Governor Cuomo said. “While that work continues, this new shuttle service will help improve travel for people in the Rockaways who are still recovering from Sandy’s effects.”
MTA New York City Transit created the new H shuttle service by loading 20 R-32 subway cars onto flatbed trucks in Ozone Park, Queens, driving them over the MTA Bridges and Tunnels Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge, and placing them back on the rails at the Rockaway Park-Beach 116 station.
Each car is 60 feet long and weighs 80,000 pounds. The transfer operation took place over four nights. Photographs of the transfer operation are available at http://flic.kr/s/aHsjCRHC7X and raw video suitable for broadcast is available at http://youtu.be/MwminkbnAn0.
“MTA New York City Transit has responded with unprecedented creativity to restore subway service to Rockaway customers,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Joseph J. Lhota. “This partial restoration of service is an important step for the Rockaways, but our work won’t be done until the A train is fully restored.”
Honestly this service is basically a PR branch to help provide some sort of good news for an area that will probably be without regular subway service until sometime in 2013. I can’t blame the agency for providing it even though it will probably not be used often.
Hopefully the agency will be able to restore service as soon as possible. I know they are working extremely hard to do so. A return of regular service is something the area could really use. I will say this though, from those who I have spoken with, the shuttle bus service has not been as bad as expected.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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MTA Touts Employee Protection Program
Over the years, I have covered numerous stories involving the assault of transit employees. The majority of these stories centered around bus drivers who have little protection against the riding public. Unfortunately some have even lost their life due to the lack of protection.
The MTA is hoping a new ad campaign will bring awareness to a new program that will offer rewards of up to $2000 for those who provide details of assaults to transit employees. Here is more via the press release I received:
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced that it has launched an ad campaign promoting a new program that offers rewards of up to $2,000 to transit riders or others who offer details to police after witnessing a crime against a transit employee.
Advertisements detailing how members of the public can participate in the program are now being posted in buses. Beginning this month, they will begin appearing in the subway system as well. In addition, the MTA has created a web page offering information about the program, at http://www.mta.info/nyct/transitwatch.htm.
The program, known as Transit Watch, was announced this year by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo in the weeks after a joint conference convened by the MTA and the Transport Workers Union Local 100 to address an increase in the number of assaults on MTA personnel.
“Thousands of men and women work on the front lines of the MTA system every day to make sure millions of people can get to work safely,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Joseph J. Lhota. “We need to ensure they stay safe as well. Transit Watch puts criminals on notice that if they assault a bus or subway employee, everyone who sees it happen is going to help put them in jail.”
Customers who see a crime take place are asked to call the NYPD’s CrimeStoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS. All calls are kept strictly confidential, and you need not provide your name.
“Assaults on transit workers are on the rise, and the MTA is committed to making them stop,” said Thomas F. Prendergast, President of MTA New York City Transit. “An attack on any one of our workers is an attack on all of us, and we share the goal of protecting our employees as they put their lives on the line every day.”
Transit Watch falls under a national program administered by the Federal Transit Administration. It is made possible locally by the New York City Police Foundation, which supports innovative NYPD programs like Crime Stoppers.
Assaulting an MTA employee is a Class D felony punishable by up to seven years in prison.
On one hand it is positive to see more awareness being brought to the safety of transit employees. However on the other hand, why has it taken so long for the agency to even consider something like this? How many transit employees had to be assaulted before this idea was even thought of? The answer was clearly one too many.
Quite honestly the real effort needs to not go towards reward programs for tips but for actual safety measures for workers who are the main reason this system is able to move millions a day. Hopefully the agency continues to focus their priorities to where it needs to be.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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