LIRR adding Hempstead Branch service to Elmont station on event days

The Long Island Rail Road will add trains to the Elmont-UBS Arena station on event days beginning Nov. 7, in time for the Monday game between the New York Islanders and the Calgary Flames, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said.

LIRR will add 12 pre-event and eight post-event Hempstead Branch trains on weekdays, as well as 20 pre-event and 16 post-event trains on the same Hempstead Branch on weekends, the agency said in a news release. These trains will be in addition to existing service to Elmont provided by the Ronkonkoma and Huntington/Port Jefferson lines.

The additional Hempstead Branch service will reduce travel times and incentivize event attendees to use public transportation, thus helping alleviate traffic congestion on Long Island, MTA said. 

Eventgoers can also expect to get home sooner as the agency said the added trains will reduce post-game westbound wait times by nearly half, depending on the event’s ending time.

MTA said the Belmont Park shuttle trains that operate between Jamaica Station and Belmont Park station will continue to run before and after UBS Arena events.

The Elmont-UBS Arena station opened in November 2021, the first added to the LIRR system in nearly 50 years. Trains only stop at the station during event days and the station only served eastbound trains until last month when westbound service began.

The station will operate 365 days a year as a regular stop on the Hempstead Branch when LIRR service to Grand Central Madison, a new train concourse below the Grand Central Terminal, begins at the end of this year, MTA said.

By Dandan Zou

dandan.zou@newsday.com@DandanZou

Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.