The 126th U.S. Open Golf Championship this week took place in Southampton, Long Island, attracting a large number of golf fans to attend. In response to the crowd, the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) increased train services and assisted in transportation through temporary stations.
The official competitions of this event ran from June 18th to 21st. The United States Golf Association (USGA) estimated that around 150,000 people would visit throughout the event week, with approximately 40,000 spectators attending during the official competition days, leading to a significant increase in transportation demand to and from the eastern end of Long Island.
To alleviate road congestion, the Long Island Railroad offered temporary stop services near the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. Spectators could take a train to reach the temporary platform near the Stony Brook Southampton campus for ticket verification and security checks before walking across County Route 39 on a pedestrian bridge to enter the golf course.
However, due to the large number of passengers, some trains experienced crowding and delays on the first day of competition on June 18th. The Montauk Branch trains saw delays of up to 40 minutes, with some passengers being forced to wait on the platforms due to trains reaching full capacity. A train from Babylon to Patchogue was canceled and replaced with a bus connection.
Subsequently, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) increased services to meet the demand. Two additional trains departing from Patchogue arrived at the temporary Shinnecock Hills station at 9:25 AM and 10:34 AM respectively. The MTA stated that they would continue monitoring passenger flow to assess if further train services needed to be added.
The Long Island Railroad had already planned to increase capacity during the official competition period and scheduled 26 round-trip trains over the weekend in hopes of reducing train crowding and delays.