Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) crews worked this past weekend to upgrade switches at Mineola by preparing them for the future third track between Floral Park and Hicksville.
Under the LIRR Forward Plan, the Long Island Rail Road has upgraded 23 switches including the recently replaced Nassau Switch. Nassau Switch is one of the most highly trafficked areas with over 200 train traverses every day. These switch upgrades, among many other initiatives, have resulted in 43 percent fewer cancellations, 22 percent fewer short trains and 30 percent fewer trains delayed over 15 minutes.
This switch installation is expected to improve reliability along the corridor and provide the capacity needed for the third track construction. As a result, there was no train service between New Hyde Park and Hicksville, Sat. Nov. 16 to Sun. Nov. 17. Special weekend timetables were in effect for all branches.
There was no train service at New Hyde Park, Merillon Avenue, Mineola, Carle Place, or Westbury. Oyster Bay trains operated between Oyster Bay and East Williston where s connecting shuttle bus service took customers to/from Hempstead for train service.
