After downed power cables completely disrupted rush-hour rail service along the Northeast Corridor south of New York City on Wednesday evening, New Jersey Transit and Amtrak service appeared to be almost back to normal Thursday morning.
New Jersey Transit warned customers that they should continue to expect delays and cancellations Thursday morning due to technical issues the night before, according to a social media post around 5 a.m. On the agency’s website, there were alerts of possible delays for almost all cases. railway line.
Amtrak trains between New York and Washington are also expected to experience continued delays, according to an update posted at 8 a.m. on the Amtrak website.
The power outage occurred shortly after 5 p.m. after overhead power cables fell in Kearny, New Jersey, and disrupted service between New York and Newark. The resulting backups affected stations as far south as Washington.
An Amtrak spokesman, Jason Abrams, said Thursday that a signal wire had come into contact with the catenary‚ the overhead wires that supply electricity to the trains, and caused a “blowout.” Mr. Abrams said the disruption was not related to the construction of a replacement for the 114-year-old Portal Bridge, which carries trains over the Hackensack River in Kearny.
It was the second time this week that Amtrak wiring caused an interruption in train service in the metro area.
On Tuesday morning, problems with cables in a tunnel under the Hudson River caused delays of up to an hour for Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains. Amtrak owns Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan and the tracks and tunnels that connect the station to New Jersey and point south.
Much of this rail infrastructure is obsolete and needs to be replaced. A massive project to add rail tracks and a tunnel under the Hudson River between Penn Station and New Jersey is underway, but it will take at least a decade and about $30 billion to complete.
Meanwhile, New Jersey commuters are at the mercy of Amtrak to maintain its rail infrastructure in the metro area. The latest disruption came about a month before New Jersey Transit implemented a 15 percent fare increase.
On Wednesday, some travelers found themselves stranded at Penn Station in Manhattan, the United States’ busiest rail hub, late at night as they waited for trains that were scheduled to depart hours earlier. Some trains bound for the station ended service to Philadelphia, leaving travelers to find a new route.
By 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, southbound service from Pennsylvania Station had resumed.
Waiting for her train at Newark Broad Street Station Thursday morning, Linda Holcomb said New Jersey’s mass transit system reminded her of the Wicked Witch of the West.
“As soon as it rains, it’s destroyed,” Ms. Holcomb, 67, said. “In ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ a little bit of water destroyed it.”
Ms. Holcomb said she was not against the fare increase, which takes effect July 1, but hoped the increased revenue generated would be used to improve rail infrastructure.
“Without money, you can’t fix the problem,” she said.
Marc Bonamo reports contributed.
News Source : www.nytimes.com
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