The week of September 25–October 1, 2026, the MTA Long Island Rail Road’s alert feed produced 71 unplanned service-alert threads, according to the MTA LIRR service alert feed as recorded by Long Island Traffic. The four-week average immediately before this period was 71.5, per the same source. Check live LIRR status for current conditions.
Of the 71 threads, 61 reached delay level, 6 reached cancellation level and 3 reached suspension level, with 1 classified as other, according to the MTA LIRR alert feed as recorded by Long Island Traffic. The feed also carried 4 planned-work notices that same week.
Alert thread totals across five weeks
The week of September 25–October 1, 2026 recorded 71 threads — lower than the 83 threads recorded the week of September 4–10 and the 82 threads recorded the week of August 28–September 3, according to the MTA LIRR alert feed as recorded by Long Island Traffic.
Unplanned LIRR alert threads by week
| Week (ET) | Alert threads | With a suspension | With a cancellation |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 25–October 1, 2026 | 71 | 3 | 6 |
| September 18–24, 2026 | 53 | 0 | 9 |
| September 11–17, 2026 | 68 | 1 | 8 |
| September 4–10, 2026 | 83 | 0 | 12 |
| August 28–September 3, 2026 | 82 | 0 | 12 |
Branches with the most alert threads
The Ronkonkoma Branch carried 17 unplanned alert threads during the week of September 25–October 1, 2026, and the Montauk Branch carried 14, according to the MTA LIRR alert feed as recorded by Long Island Traffic. The Port Jefferson Branch followed with 13, and the Babylon Branch recorded 10.
Unplanned alert threads by branch (MTA route in the alert)
| Branch | Alert threads | Suspensions | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ronkonkoma | 17 | 0 | 1 |
| Montauk | 14 | 0 | 1 |
| Port Jefferson | 13 | 1 | 1 |
| Babylon | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| Port Washington | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Long Beach | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Oyster Bay | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| City Terminal Zone | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Far Rockaway | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Hempstead | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Three branches saw suspensions
Three suspension-level alert threads were recorded during the week of September 25–October 1, 2026, on the Port Jefferson, Long Beach and Port Washington branches, according to the MTA LIRR alert feed as recorded by Long Island Traffic.
Suspension alerts this week (first MTA text LIT recorded)
| Branch | Alert text |
|---|---|
| Port Jefferson | Port Jefferson Branch service is suspended between Huntington and Port Jefferson due to a downed tree on the tracks east of Kings Park. |
| Long Beach | Long Beach Branch service is suspended between Valley Stream and Long Beach due to flooding near Island Park. |
| Port Washington | Service on the Port Washington Branch is partially suspended between Great Neck and Port Washington after a vehicle struck an LIRR bridge near Plandome. |
Causes named in alert text
Equipment or mechanical problems appeared in 23 alert threads, and signal or switch problems appeared in 12, according to the MTA LIRR alert feed as recorded by Long Island Traffic. Twenty-nine threads named no cause in the alert text. Police, medical or emergency activity accounted for 4 threads; track condition or work, weather, trees or flooding, and vehicle strike (bridge or crossing) each accounted for 1.
Cause named in the alert text
| Cause (from MTA wording) | Alert threads |
|---|---|
| Not stated in the alert | 29 |
| Equipment or mechanical problem | 23 |
| Signal or switch problem | 12 |
| Police, medical or emergency activity | 4 |
| Track condition or work | 1 |
| Weather, trees or flooding | 1 |
| Vehicle strike (bridge or crossing) | 1 |
Rush-window alerts
Twenty-three of the 71 unplanned threads were first seen during weekday-style rush windows — defined as 6–9:59 a.m. or 4–7:59 p.m. Eastern time on any day — according to the MTA LIRR alert feed as recorded by Long Island Traffic.
How we measured this
- Records: every LIRR alert LIT stored from the MTA’s real-time alert feed between 12:00 a.m. September 25 and 11:59 p.m. October 1 (Eastern).
- An alert thread is one MTA alert and all of its updates. Threads are classed by the most serious wording in any update: suspension, then cancellation, then delay.
- Branch comes from the MTA route in the alert; causes come from keywords in MTA’s own text. Planned-work notices are counted separately.
- Comparison weeks are the four 7-day periods immediately before this one.
Limitations
- This is not an on-time-performance measure. One alert can cover one late train or a whole branch, and the MTA publishes on-time performance separately.
- LIT polls the feed on a schedule, so a short alert posted and withdrawn between polls may be missing, and “first seen” times are LIT’s, not the MTA’s.
- Cause categories rely on the MTA’s wording; alerts that do not name a cause are listed as not stated.