Long Island Rail Road riders have to contend with rush hour train cancellations and diversions because of Monday night s derailment transit officials said.
The LIRR will operate a normal mid day schedule Tuesday but won t be able to run the regular rush hour allotment of 144 eastbound trains in the evening the authority said.
Thirty five morning rush hour trains to Penn Station were canceled. Trains also were rerouted to Hunters Point Queens or the Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn.
Two cars of a 10 car Hempstead bound LIRR train derailed in an Amtrak tunnel beneath the East River at 6 09 p.m. Monday. Eight cars were removed overnight while two remained to be cleared from the tunnel. About 500 feet of track and eight switches were damaged.
No one was injured in the accident but passengers had to be evacuated. Some were walked back to Penn Station through the tunnel while others boarded a rescue train .
Amtrak workers are repairing damaged track and switches but it wasn t clear when the route would be ready for service.
Matthew Geraghty a passenger on the derailed train praised firefighters and police officers who responded.
Both agencies were at the scene in what seemed like a minute and worked very diligently and professionally to help those of us who were trapped on the train Geraghty said.
Police and firefighters moved as many passengers as possible into cars that had working air conditioning passed out water and opened emergency ventilation windows in the hot cars Geraghty said.
Through it all they joked about the situation to keep us all in a good mood asking if we had our tickets out ready to be punched and joking about pizza delivery too he said.
pdonohue nydailynews.com
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