The worst of the snowfall in and around New York City was winding down Monday, but the odds for a workable Tuesday morning commute remained unclear for Long Island and New Jersey straphangers, with NJ Transit’s rail service still suspended and LIRR set to resume a limited schedule.
Starting at 4 a.m. on Tuesday morning, limited service is expected to resume on the Long Island Rail Road’s Ronkonkoma, Huntington, Babylon, Oyster Bay, Montauk and Port Washington branches.
On the Montauk branch, service will only operate as far east as Speonk. Oyster Bay service will only operate toward the city until after the morning rush, at which point eastbound service is scheduled to resume.
Service on the Ronkonkoma, Huntington, Babylon and Port Washington branches are expected to make all scheduled stops Tuesday morning — but restoration work was continuing as of press time Monday, and commuters were encouraged to check their line’s status online before heading to their train.
MTA officials said work would continue throughout the day Tuesday to further restore service on the railroad.
“We are planning to run some service on Long Island tomorrow, but exactly how much is a work in progress,” MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said early Monday at a winter storm press briefing.
Lieber added the railroad has been using work trains to clear snow on the LIRR, as well as running empty trains to keep the tracks clear of ice.
Metro-North service — which continued with delays through Monday’s storm — was expected to continue into Tuesday on a modified schedule, running two-thirds of the number of trains expected on a typical weekday.
Meanwhile, across the Hudson, riders saw minor signs of thaw as NJ Transit announced that the Newark and Hudson-Bergen Light Rail lines would resume service late Monday — the Newark Light Rail at 4 p.m., and the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail at 6 p.m.
But the Garden State’s bus and commuter rail services remained suspended until further notice, spelling yet more uncertainty for Tuesday morning commuters.
Inside the five boroughs, subways continued to run on Monday, albeit with delays as crews across the system had to manually clear snow from switches and red-signal trip-stops.
Service on the Rockaway Shuttle resumed around noon after an early-morning power outage on the peninsula played havoc with the shuttle’s signals. The Staten Island Railway, however, remained closed Monday afternoon, due to wind and snow, and was expected to remain so for the morning commute on Tuesday.