(The following story by John Valenti appeared on the Newsday website on February 7.)
NEW YORK — It was bad news for rail-riders Thursday morning, with trouble on the New York City subway system and on the Long Island Rail Road.
Signal problems at the 5th Avenue-53rd Street subway station are causing delays on the V, F and E lines, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said. And two LIRR trains were cancelled earlier in the morning due to unspecified “equipment problems.”
The MTA is reporting that “selected” Forest Hills-bound V trains are running on the F subway line between 47-50th Street-Rockefeller Station and Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue in Queens. Meanwhile, Jamaica Center-bound E trains are “running with delays,” according to the MTA.
Equipment problems on two different branches caused the cancellation of two LIRR trains during the morning rush hour, railroad officials said.
Canceled were a train from Huntington and a train from Massapequa Park.
The train from Huntington was the 6:15 a.m. Customers were asked to board the 6:38 a.m. train, instead — though that train was bound for Flatbush Avenue. That meant that customers bound for Penn Station had to transfer at Jamaica, officials said.
Also canceled was the westbound 6:26 a.m. train from Massapequa Park. Passengers were put on the 6:28 a.m. train.
Officials did not provide any detailed information on the “equipment problems.”