For the first time in its 100-year history, the Long Island Rail Road’s famous Cannonball train will travel express from Penn Station right to the tony Hamptons and the lighthouse in Montauk.
The 4:07 Friday afternoon train always has departed from Queens, making the trip inconvenient from midtown Manhattan, as travelers had to change trains.
Even so, it has always been the most popular of all the Long Island Rail Road trains, transporting 1,400 lively riders a day to weekend jaunts on the beach.
It is the longest train on the LIRR, a double-decker with 14 cars and two locomotives.
The 76-mile ride from Penn Station to Westhampton will take 94 minutes; reaching Montauk, 117 miles due east into the Atlantic, will take about two and a half hours.
One-way tickets cost $27; for $20 more riders can get reserved seats in the dining and bar cars, with wait staff provided.
The LIRR also this summer will debut the Cannonball West, a Sunday evening express returning from Montauk to Manhattan, with one stop in Queens.
