from Newsday

The Long Island Rail Road is suspending some service in eastern Suffolk County beginning Thursday night and more service early Friday morning as it braces for Hurricane Earl. The service suspension will be in effect until at least Saturday morning, officials said.

The LIRR is canceling all trains east of Ronkonkoma on the Greenport branch and east of Speonk on the Montauk branch because of concerns that sustained winds of more than 40 mph and gusts of 60 mph could break gates at grade crossings and cause trees, power lines and debris to fall onto tracks, LIRR spokesman Joe Calderone said Thursday afternoon.

On the Greenport line, the last eastbound train from Penn Station before the service suspension will depart Penn at 5:41 p.m. Thursday, arrive at Ronkonkoma at 6:53 p.m. and terminate at Greenport at 8:17 p.m.


The last westbound train from Greenport will leave at 5:30 a.m. Friday morning.

On the Montauk line, the last eastbound train from Penn Station before the service suspension will depart Penn Station at 12:39 a.m. early Friday morning, arrive at Speonk at 2:48 a.m. and terminate at Montauk at 3:57.

The last westbound train from Montauk will leave at 5:39 a.m. Friday morning.

While the service is suspended, LIRR work crews will secure gates at 79 affected grade crossings in the up position, and man those locations throughout the storm.

Calderone said the LIRR aims to restore service by Saturday morning, after meteorologists predict the storm will have passed, but said that it could take longer to address any damage.

"We're going to have to wait and see what the damage is and go from there," Calderone said.

The LIRR still plans to run eight additional eastbound trains from Penn Station on Friday afternoon to accommodate travelers during the busy Labor Day holiday weekend.