Problems plague LIRR after week of service issues

There were more troubles for the Long Island Rail Road Friday along the Ronkonkoma line due to signal and switch problems in Central Islip.
The challenging week for LIRR commuters began Monday with delays caused by two separate fatalities on LIRR tracks. On Monday night, commuters on the Ronkonkoma branch had to take buses due to signal issues near Central Islip.
Tuesday’s service was hampered by thunderstorms and Wednesday’s service was disrupted due to power issues.
Anyone who commutes on weekends along the Ronkonkoma branch is being warned about temporary changes to peak and off-peak schedules due to work on the LIRR Double Track project.
This weekend, buses will replace the trains between Ronkonkoma and Hicksville. The LIRR says buses will board 45 minutes earlier than normal train times.
The LIRR president issued a statement saying he "feels the frustrations" of customers since he is one too. He said they've already completed some key initiatives, such as installing GPS in nearly 80 percent of trains to provide real time data. He added that there is more work to do.