Politics & Government
LIRR Service Delayed Due to Fire
All branches except for Port Washington line have been affected since late Monday morning.
Train service to all LIRR branches- except the Port Washington line - has been suspended since late Monday morning. Severe delays are expected to continue into the evening rush hour.
As of 4:30 p.m., LIRR updated their service advisory board to read: "There will be no regularly scheduled connections at Jamaica this evening." Because of this, Smithtown commuters that take the LIRR Port Jefferson Branch will have to change at Hicksville or Huntington.
Railroad officials have said they expect service to run at 60 percent of normal Monday evening. MTA New York City Transit and MTA Long Island Bus are honoring LIRR tickets.
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The interruption in service was caused by a fire in the LIRR's switching tower located on the east side of Jamaica. The Port Washington line was not affected because it does not travel through Jamaica.
The fire eliminated the railroad's ability to switch trains from one track to another at Jamaica, which means that trains headed to and from New York City could not pass that point.
Find out what's happening in Smithtownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Patch will be updating this story as more information becomes available.
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