Commuter Connection Trains Return, With Expanded Bus Service

The Friday morning eastbound South Fork Commuter Connection train service between Speonk and East Hampton resumed service on September 7, and the service will now have expanded “last mile” bus services around East Hampton to make the trains convenient to more local employees.

A third bus was added this week to the routes that meet the two morning and two afternoon trains carrying weekday commuters to and from points west. Having a third bus will allow two buses to meet riders at the East Hampton Village LIRR station and split the loops they run into eastern and western, allowing time for additional stops, while the third bus will run the dedicated loop from the Amagansett train station to Montauk.

The new route will loop in the Ross School and other businesses on Goodfriend Drive as well as adding the Springs School to the eastern route, and expand the Montauk bus route that carried commuters headed east of Amagansett, where the morning trains terminate and the afternoon trains originate.

“The addition of a third bus by the Hampton Hopper, which provides the service for East Hampton Town, will allow separate bus routes to serve the western and more eastern areas of the town, in addition to the route serving Amagansett and Montauk,” East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc’s office said in a statement announcing the expansion of the bus service. “Not only will this provide seats on the shuttle for the increasing number of riders, but it will save time for a number of users, getting them to the workplace earlier and picking them up later.”

Begun in 2019 — then suspended in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic — the South Fork Commuter Connection provides rush-hour trains that originate in Speonk and stop in Westhampton, Hampton Bays, Southampton, Bridgehampton, East Hampton, Amagansett.

Fares are $3.25 each way, including the last mile bus service, which is operated by Hampton Hopper in East Hampton Town.

Full schedule of the train and buss connections in each hamlet are available at southamptontownny.gov/1263/South-Fork-Commuter-Connection.