A power outage shut down all train service along the Northeast Corridor between Philadelphia and New Haven, Conn., on Thursday afternoon, threatening to create chaos during the evening commute on one of the hottest days of the year.
Amtrak said a lack of electricity to power its trains forced the company to temporarily suspend all service along the 150-mile stretch of track through New York City. One of Amtrak’s Acela trains was running more than an hour late when it got stuck east of Newark. Another of their trains was stuck in Queens, and Amtrak said it would send a diesel engine to carry that train back to Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan.
Amtrak cited “reports of circuit breakers malfunctioning” as the possible cause of the incident. They said the incident was unrelated to the wildfire in Secaucus, N.J., on Thursday afternoon that was burning near train tracks and the New Jersey Turnpike.
New Jersey Transit’s service in and out of Penn Station was also suspended because its trains share part of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor between New York City and Trenton, N.J.
New Jersey Transit began diverting trains from Penn Station to Hoboken Station and accepting train tickets on its buses. The PATH train between Manhattan and New Jersey also honors cross rail tickets.
Just before 5 p.m., a large number of disgruntled Amtrak customers dragging suitcases and carrying duffel bags gathered outside the ticket counter at Moynihan Station.
An Amtrak employee told the crowd that “nothing was happening” and asked those waiting to leave the line unless they canceled their tickets for a refund or rebooked their tickets for another date.
The disruption was at least the fourth in the past two months, causing lengthy delays for commuters in the metropolitan area.
On Tuesday morning, New Jersey Transit service entered and exited New York’s Penn Station was suspended for about an hour and all Amtrak trains pass through the station delayed because of overhead wire problems and a disabled passenger train on the tracks, railway officials said.
That disruption ruined the morning commute for thousands of New Jersey residents as delays spread along various rail lines in the state.
The problems on Tuesday came soon after Huge delays at rush hour at Penn Station earlier this month, due to an inspection of tracks owned by Amtrak. Service was significantly delayed for over an hour.
Service was also disrupted in May when an overhead wire used for traffic signals fell and touched cables in Kearny, N.J., which provide power to trains on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. The train was Pauses on Amtrak and New Jersey Transit in both directions between Penn Station and Newark, and delays lasted more than four hours.
Maia Coleman Report contributions.
