Cannonball express trains run from Manhattan to the Hamptons starting this weekend.
Credit: Metropolitan Transportation Authority/Patrick Cashin
It’s “all aboard” for quick weekend getaways to the Hamptons this summer.
The Long Island Railroad’s Cannonball express train makes its seasonal debut this weekend, with service between Manhattan and Montauk.
“There is no better way to reach the Hamptons on a Friday afternoon than via the LIRR’s express, nonstop Cannonball service,” LIRR President Pat Nowakowski boasted in a statement. “In 95 minutes, we will get you from Penn Station to Westhampton so you can start your weekend early.”
Through Labor Day, the trains run east to Long Island on Friday afternoons and back into the city on Sunday nights. The Cannonball makes local stops from Westhampton and Montauk on both days. While the train runs nonstop on Friday afternoons to Westhampton, Sunday night service includes Jamaica and Penn Station.
Established in the 1980s, the Cannonball is the only named train operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The train makes the longest run at 117 miles from Manhattan to Montauk, officials said.
The Cannonball departed from Hunterspoint Avenue in Queens until 2013. Since service was introduced to Penn Station last year, Hampton Reserve Ridership on the express train has more than doubled, according to the MTA.
The two-car Hamptons Reserve Service on the Cannonball includes pampering for an extra charge, but there are also seats on the 10 other coach cars.
The first eastbound train departs from Penn Station at 4:06 p.m. Friday, with the reserve service already sold out.
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