By Michael Ventura
DNAinfo Senior Editor
MANHATTAN — Long Island Rail Road service is expected to be back to normal for the morning rush, the MTA said.
Repair crews worked "round the clock" to fix switch and signal systems in Jamaica, Queens, that were damaged in a fire last week, which snarled commutes into and out of Penn Station for several days.
The repairs were to be completed Sunday afternoon, the railroad said.
“We’re anticipating a normal rush hour, a.m. and p.m.,” LIRR spokesman Joe Calderone told the New York Times.
A pair of track cables short-circuited last Monday, causing a fire that heavily damaged a track switching machine that dated to the 1920s, the Times reported. It was scheduled to be replaced with a modern machine in October, the paper said.
As repairs were made, workers had to manually switch trains onto various tracks using mallets and spikes, the Times said.
“I appreciate the challenges our customers faced during the past week and I thank them for their patience during what has been a difficult time,” LIRR President Helena E. Williams said in a statement.
