MTA Spokesperson: LIRR service for Islanders games will be eastbound and westbound next season

This October, you'll be able to take the train to and from the NY Islanders game at UBS Arena game regardless of where you are traveling from. According to WFAN.com's Peter Schwartz, an MTA spokesperson has confirmed that eastbound and westbound service for the Elmont arena will be running for Opening Night.

Last November, the first new LIRR station in 50 years debuted in Elmont, NY but only served in the eastbound direction. As a result, fans that took the train to the game could only use it if their return trip was on the Hempstead Branch. For those needing to change at Jamaica for Penn Station, Atlantic Terminal, and other branches, fans needed to take one of two shuttle trains, the first leaving Belmont Park 15-20 minutes after the end of the game.

"This is a great day, not only for the Islanders fans and the organization but a wonderful day for New Yorkers," Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky said. "It's been nearly half a century since the last train station was built, but this new station will provide an essential transportation option for hockey and music fans."

Last week, in an NYIHockeyNow Q&A with Newsday’s Long Island Railroad beat reporter Alfonso Castillo alluded to changes Islanders fans should expect next season.

"The big thing is that they’re going to have westbound service there because the station opened up last year., Until October, there’s only eastbound services. So you could take the train there from Jamaica, but then you can’t take a train back from that station to Jamaica, because they just didn’t have the infrastructure set up yet. They said they would get that done by this summer. I don’t know exactly what the timeframe is, but they set it in time for the Islanders in October, so they are going to be running trains in both directions."

- Alfonso Castillo in NYIHockeyNow

There are growing pains with every new arena, getting in and out the parking lot was one of them for Islanders fans last season. When the parking garage is finished, that should alleviate some of the congestion, but having LIRR service being able to take you back and forth to destination will go a long way in achieving that as well.