LIRR: Limited Service Restored After Fire, No Express Trains

Commuters can forget that express train home Monday evening.

Mineola residents heading home from Penn Station will board Long Island Rail Road trains making all local stops, according to a railroad service advisory.

The rush hour commute is turning into a massive headache for thousands of commuters as railroad service was suspended for several hours Monday before limited service resumed around 3 p.m. after a fire at a switching tower Monday morning. 

Railroad officials have said they expect service to run at 60 percent of normal Monday evening. 

There will be no regular scheduled connections at Jamaica and no Babylon Branch trains will leave from Atlantic Terminal, officials said.

As it stands, service on 10 of the railroad's 11 branches remains delayed. Only the Port Washington line is currently operating on a normal schedule.

The choas began Monday morning shortly before 11 a.m. when a fire broke out in the LIRR's switching tower located on the east side of Jamaica Station in Queens.

According to the New York Times, the railroad was unable to control the switches that allow trains to change tracks near the station, which means that trains headed to and from New York City could not pass that point.

MTA New York City Transit and MTA Long Island Bus are honoring LIRR tickets.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.