LIRR adding service on Oyster Bay branch

The Long Island Rail Road is making several changes to its schedule aimed at filling gaps in service on its Oyster Bay branch, officials said Monday.

Beginning March 17, the railroad will add two Oyster Bay trains to its timetable — one eastbound and one westbound — and also change the departure time of another eastbound train.

The new westbound train will leave Oyster Bay at 7:09 p.m. on weekdays and arrive at Penn Station at 8:35 p.m. The additional train aims to reduce a nearly 2½ hour gap in Oyster Bay service, to just over an hour.

The railroad also aims to reduce long wait times on the branch by moving up its 10:58 p.m. train to Penn Station by 16 minutes. Beginning March 17, the train will depart Oyster Bay at 10:42 p.m. and arrive to Penn at 12:09 a.m.

A new eastbound train will depart Penn at 11:17 p.m. on weeknights and arrive at Oyster Bay at 12:44 a.m.

The LIRR, in a statement, said the additional service will be a "boon" to Oyster Bay customers returning from attending a Broadway show, concert or sporting event in Manhattan.

"The best way to create an amazing customer experience is to provide reliable, convenient, and frequent service to our customers," LIRR president Robert Free said. "These new trains create more travel opportunities for people to experience all that Long Island and NYC have to offer in the evening."

The railroad has sought to address complaints from Oyster Bay riders following the overhaul of service that came with the launch of Grand Central Madison in February 2023. The changes did away with timed connections — meaning trains no longer wait for other trains at Jamaica or other junctions.

The new policy proved especially inconvenient for Oyster Bay customers because of the long wait times between trains on the branch.

To reduce the need for transfers, the LIRR in September added a direct train from Oyster Bay to Penn Station during the morning rush hour.

Still, in the LIRR’s most recent customer satisfaction survey, conducted over two weeks in October, riders on the Oyster Bay branch reported the lowest satisfaction rating of any LIRR branch at 68%. That was up 8 percentage points from the previous survey, taken in the spring.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.