Train service on the Long Island Rail Road, America’s busiest passenger service, was expected to resume on Tuesday, after a deal was reached to end a strike that had shut it down for three days and snarled travel plans for tens of thousands of people.
But the resumption will not be immediate. Here’s what to expect on Tuesday:
L.I.R.R. trains will gradually return from midday.
Rob Free, the president of the service, said hourly L.I.R.R. trains will resume at noon on four lines — the Port Washington, Huntington, Ronkonkoma, and Babylon branches — that serve commuters traveling to New York City.
Full service is expected on all lines by around 4 p.m., he said.
That means thousands of Long Island residents will be able to take the service to Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, where the New York Knicks are scheduled to face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first game of the N.B.A. Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night.
The M.T.A. will run free shuttle buses on Tuesday morning.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority had launched a free shuttle bus service to mitigate the effects of the L.I.R.R. strike, aiming to cover up to 13,000 passengers during the morning and evening rush hours.
These will also run on Tuesday between six stations on Long Island and two subway stops in Queens, the M.T.A. said. The shuttle service will operate during peak hours, with buses going toward Manhattan from 4:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and toward Long Island from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., according to an M.T.A. advisory.
Fewer than 2,200 riders had used this bus service by Monday afternoon, the M.T.A. said. The authority had ordered about 200 buses at a cost of about $550,000 a day.
The M.T.A. advised people to work from home on Tuesday, too, if possible.
Some people can expect refunds from the M.T.A.
The L.I.R.R. carries more than 270,000 passengers a day between Long Island and New York City, and the strike scrambled travel plans for commuters with few other options.
Many riders have monthly tickets. For people who have such tickets for May, the M.T.A. said that it intends to give prorated refunds for the business days on which L.I.R.R. service was suspended. It is not clear when these refunds will be issued, and the M.T.A. said they would require approval from its board.
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Stefanos Chen is a Times reporter covering New York City’s transit system.
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