LIRR service to North Fork to increase under proposal
A revised train schedule would add more weekday trains and seasonal weekend service to the North Fork, according to Southold Town planning director Heather Lanza.
The proposed schedule would add a fourth weekday train departing Greenport around 10 a.m. and arriving in New York at 12:50 p.m., Ms. Lanza said at Tuesday’s Town Board work session.
The current noon train would be bumped to 2 p.m., while the early morning and late night trains would remain the same. The weekday schedule changes could go into effect by September, Ms. Lanza said.
An early morning train would run on weekdays out of Ronkonkoma from May and October to accommodate those trying to catch fishing boats in the summer.
As for seasonal weekend service from May through November, the proposal calls for trains arriving in Greenport at 5:45 a.m., 11 a.m., 4 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. The trains, which would depart Greenport at 7 a.m., noon, 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., would give residents the option to head to the city early on the weekend.
The summer changes would not start until 2018, as the upcoming season’s timetable has already been written, said Anthony Kingren, LIRR senior manager of timetables and schedules.
Those weekend trains would require a second crew, which the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is committed to providing funding for, Ms. Lanza said.
Ms. Lanza, along with other members of the town’s transportation commission, the nonprofit Five Towns Rural Transit, Long Island Rail Road representatives and Riverhead Town coordinated on creating the schedule.
“So now you have multiple opportunities to go in and out of Greenport,” said Steven Ellinghaus, the LIRR’s fleet, shops and yard strategy manager. “You also have opportunities for people in Greenport to travel to New York City and spend a day there and still have the opportunity to come back home.”
