The Long Island Rail Road service will be restored on all branches Thursday following a full shutdown due to Ida.

Historic flooding from Ida crippled much of Long Island’s mass transportation system. The LIRR is still advising riders to avoid unnecessary travel as cleanup is still underway across many communities.

Phillip Eng, president of the LIRR, paid a visit to Great Neck train station Thursday morning after it filled with water overnight. He says the unprecedented amount of rain caused flash flooding, fallen trees, power outages and track damage across the Island.

Around 12:30 a.m., the decision was made to shut down the system completely for the safety of the riders and the LIRR workforce.

"It's not an easy decision to shut down service, but with the visibility near zero and seeing the devastation that Ida was causing elsewhere, it was the right call,” Eng says.

He says they started restoring service around 4 a.m. Port Washington was the last branch to have service fully restored Thursday afternoon.

Gerry Bringmann, president of the Long Island Commuter Council, says the LIRR did a good job getting things back on track overall.

He did mention that there was a glitch on the timetable early on which marked some trains marked as canceled when they weren't. However, he says that may have been a blessing in disguise because it may have kept more people home.