NEW YORK – Whether it’s the crowds looking to use the Long Island Rail Road or Metro-North to get out of town over Memorial Day weekend, or those staying behind and hoping to use the subway while celebrating Fleet Week, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) expects a busy weekend for its services.
But there will be some big changes for riders to notice beginning Friday, as more LIRR and Metro-North trains have been added, while nine subway lines have plans to work through the weekend.
Here’s what to expect to help make travel plans a little easier:
LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD
The Cannonball train will make its seasonal debut on Friday. At 4:06 pm the train runs from Penn Station to Montauk, and goes express to Westhampton in just over an hour and a half, the MTA said. It then stops at Southampton, Bridgehampton, East Hampton, and Montauk.
The Cannonball’s return trip, which is usually scheduled to depart Montauk at 6:37 pm on Sundays, will operate on Monday, May 30 to accommodate Memorial Day travelers.
For those looking to get out of town on Friday, LIRR is operating an additional 10 trains in the afternoon to avoid overcrowding. Saturday and Sunday will run standard weekend times.
Monday will be on a Sunday schedule, the MTA said, with regular Sunday afternoon trains from Montauk running Monday afternoon. Summer trains will operate every weekend from Memorial Day weekend through the first weekend in September.
METRO-NORTH
There will be 10 additional trains Friday afternoon on the East and West Hudson Lines for Metro-North, with some trains between 5:25 pm and 6:15 pm canceled to reallocate crews and accommodate weekend travel plans.
Metro-North will operate on standard Saturday and Sunday hours for those two days, the MTA said, and will also operate on a Sunday schedule on Monday. An additional train will leave Port Jervis at 4:05 pm Monday, stopping at all stations between there and Suffern, before going express to Secaucus Junction and Hoboken.
NYC SUBWAY Y BUSES
To make critical improvements to tracks and signals, the MTA said nine lines will be affected by the service changes beginning Friday through Monday, May 30. The trains will also run on a Sunday schedule on Monday for Memorial Day.
- There will be no A/C/E service downtown from 50th Street to High Street; A/C trains will run on the D/F lines between 59th Street-Columbus Circle and Jay Street-MetroTech, while E trains will run on the R line from Queens Plaza to Whitehall Street-South Ferry.
- There will be no F train service between Church Avenue and Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue, and passengers will be asked to take the M35 and M68 buses instead.
- No R train service between 36 Street in Brooklyn and Bay Ridge-95 Street, with shuttle buses available for service to Bay Ridge Avenue, 77 Street, 86 Street, and Bay Ridge-95 Street
- All N trains will run locally between DeKalb Avenue and 59th Street in Brooklyn in both directions
- Line 4 trains will run in two segments, with a transfer between the Bronx and Manhattan at 125th Street
- Train service on the 5 line will only operate between Eastchester-Dyre Avenue and East 180 Street; passengers can take the 2 train for service between East 180 Street and 149 Street-Grand Concourse, as well as the 4 train between 149 Street-Grand Concourse and Bowling Green
- The free shuttle buses will replace J-train service between Broadway Junction and Marcy Avenue, and replace M-train service between Middle Village-Metropolitan Avenue (Queens) to Myrtle Avenue/Broadway, Flushing Avenue/Broadway, or Marcy Avenue. Changes on the J line will continue on weekends until the end of June (except June 10-12), while the shuttle buses will continue to be used on weekends on the M line until the end of August.
New York City buses will operate normal hours on Saturday and Sunday, and will operate Sunday hours on Monday.
–
