MTA: Montauk train hit abandoned vehicle on tracks

One train was canceled and others added stops to accommodate passengers after a train struck an abandoned car on the Long Island Rail Road in Montauk early Tuesday, a railroad spokesman said.

The accident occurred at 3:57 a.m. at a grade-level crossing in the vicinity of Hither Hills State Park, a location west of the Montauk Station, spokesman Salvatore Arena said.

There were nine passengers on the train, the 1:11 a.m. train from Jamaica to Montauk. None were injured.

Arena said the Metropolitan Transportation Authority police and local firefighters responded to the scene.

The accident caused a delay of about 21/2 hours, with responders needing more than an hour to separate the wreckage from the train.

The accident forced the cancellation of the westbound 5:39 a.m. train from Montauk to Long Island City.

The railroad advised customers to use Speonk or Ronkonkoma lines as alternates; it also said the 7:12 a.m. train from Speonk to Hunterspoint Avenue added stops at Hicksville and Mineola to accommodate customers from the canceled train. The 6:57 a.m. train from Port Jefferson to Hunterspoint Avenue also was scheduled to stop at Long Island City to accommodate customers from the canceled train.

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The railroad said the investigation into how the vehicle came to be abandoned on the tracks is continuing.