LIRR to Restore Long Beach Trains Monday

The Long Island Rail Road plans to restore three eastbound afternoon rush-hour trains that were suspended, including one to Long Beach, a week earlier than anticipated.

LIRR officials said that on Monday the 5:20 p.m. to Long Beach, along with two other trains to Babylon and Seaford, all from Penn Station, will return to schedule, and the 5:55 p.m. to Long Beach from Penn Station is one of four trains operating on adjusted schedules will revert to their normal times, according to Newsday.

The train schedule realignments, implemented on July 9 and expected to last a month, were due to tunnel excavation for the East Side Access project to Grand Central Terminal, in which an important switch was taken out of service, according to the MTA.

The City of Long Beach last week released a statement in which members of the City Council criticized the temporary suspension of service. Council President Len Torres said that such service should not be eliminated during the summer.

“Why shouldn’t we have as many express trains as other communities? Summer work should be done where summer ridership decreases, not where it increases,” Torres said.