“Cannonball” services on LIRR’s Montauk Branch start this weekend

With Memorial Day Weekend comes an influx of traffic on the East End of Long Island, and we’re thinking that this holiday will be no exception. But driving out and sitting in traffic can be a pain, and while taking the Jitney is comfortable, it can still get stuck in traffic.

Of course, you could always spend upwards of $795 for a seat on a Hamptons-bound helicopter that gets you from Manhattan to the East Hampton Airport in just 45 minutes—but that seems like a lot of money to spend on a convenience.

But many people still like to take the train. This weekend, the “Cannonball” service on the LIRR’s Montauk Branch is starting. The new summer schedule for the branch’s services was effective as of May 21, but the Cannonball East service begins operations today, May 25, whereas the Cannonball West service will be effective as of Monday, May 28.

The Cannonball is a nonstop service that runs to and from the Hamptons, available in the evenings.

Cannonball East runs Monday to Friday. To use the nonstop service, just get on the 4:06 p.m. train at Penn Station and the schedule claims that you’ll be at the Westhampton station by 5:41 p.m. It won’t stop in Hampton Bays or Amagansett, but it will arrive at Montauk by 6:48 p.m.

The regular train departing Penn Station at 4:19 p.m. is scheduled to get into the Westhampton station at 6:30 p.m.

Cannonball West will operate Saturdays, Sunday, and holidays—which is why it’s available on Memorial Day even though it’s a Monday—and claims to take a total of three hours from Montauk to Penn Station. From Westhampton (departing at 7:39 p.m.), the train is nonstop until arriving in Jamaica at 9:15 p.m. It then is expected to get to Penn Station at 9:39 p.m.

A normal train ride from Montauk to Penn Station can take upwards of three hours, and sometimes even closer to four hours.

For tips and corrections, please email hamptons@curbed.com

• Montauk Branch [LIRR]