Power Failure Brings Amtrak and N.J. Transit Trains to a Halt
The New York Times
Service was partially restored around 5:30 p.m. But by then, the disruption had already rippled along the Eastern Seaboard, and delays were expected to continue well into the night.
A power failure shut down all train service along the Northeast Corridor between Philadelphia and New Haven, Conn., for more than three hours on Thursday afternoon, causing significant delays in and out of the nation’s busiest transit hub for the fourth time in the last two months.
Amtrak said that, on one of the hottest days of the year, the loss of electricity forced it to temporarily suspend all service along that 150-mile stretch of rails, which passes through Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, at about 2:10 p.m. After repairs, service was partially restored around 5:30 p.m.
But by then, the disruption had already rippled along the Eastern Seaboard, causing trains to be halted and canceled as far away as Boston and Harrisburg, Pa. Delays were expected to continue well into the night.
Gery Williams, an executive vice president of Amtrak, said the problem emanated from “a malfunctioning circuit-breaker” in New Jersey, just west of the rail tunnels under the Hudson River, which cut electricity to the overhead wires that power trains into and out of the tunnels. That segment of the corridor has just two tracks and is the primary bottleneck for train travel in the Northeast. Any disruptions to that narrow passage can mean headaches for thousands of travelers.
Mr. Williams said the electrical problem was not related to a brush fire in Secaucus, N.J., on Thursday afternoon that was burning near train tracks and the New Jersey Turnpike. That fire was extinguished by Thursday evening.
One of Amtrak’s Acela trains was already running more than an hour late when it got stuck just east of Newark with no air conditioning, Mr. Williams added. Those passengers were transferred to other trains, he said. Another Amtrak train was stranded in Queens, also without air conditioning. Amtrak sent a diesel engine to haul that train back to Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, he said.
