LIRR New Timetables Take Effect Today on All 11 Branches — Check Your Train Before You Leave
Midday and weekend trains shift across the railroad from Monday, Jamaica–Atlantic Terminal midday service is back to every 20 minutes, and a special Babylon-line schedule runs through November 20 for track work, the MTA says.
The railroad changed under its riders this morning. New Long Island Rail Road timetables went into effect Monday, November 9, on all 11 branches, the MTA announced, with departure times changing on many midday weekday and weekend trains as crews advance track maintenance and station accessibility projects. The new timetables run through February 28, 2027, and the railroad's advice is blunt: trains not listed in the summaries may still be affected, so check your own route in the TrainTime app before you travel.
The Brooklyn change is the one regular riders will feel first, and it is an improvement: midday weekday service between Jamaica and Atlantic Terminal has been restored to its regular frequency of one train every 20 minutes. In the City Terminal Zone, the 7:18 p.m. train from Grand Central to Long Beach now departs one minute earlier and makes an additional stop at Kew Gardens. On the Ronkonkoma Branch, several morning peak trains run on slightly adjusted schedules east of Hicksville while still arriving at the western terminals at their normal times, and overnight Ronkonkoma and Port Jefferson trains depart between 24 minutes earlier and 10 minutes later in both directions, with Jamaica connections adjusted to match.
Two dated items belong on the calendar. A special midday weekday schedule is in effect from November 9 through November 20 to accommodate track work between Amityville and Lindenhurst, and Babylon Branch express trains between Babylon and Penn Station will run only to connect with Montauk Branch trains, stopping exclusively at Jamaica, Freeport and Babylon. And a winter return: the Friday-only 3:13 p.m. Far Rockaway train from Jamaica resumes this Friday, November 13, adding a 3:21 p.m. stop at Rosedale at customers' request. None of this is a service cut — it is a construction-season timetable — but on a railroad this size, the train you caught last week is not proof of the train that runs today.
