NJ Transit is still reporting delays Tuesday evening hours after service into and out of New York's Penn Station was suspended.
The transit agency resumed operating service into and out of New York's Penn Station Tuesday morning, about an hour after it was entirely shut down due to Amtrak overhead wire issues and a disabled train in the transit hub.
Initial delays of an hour morphed into a full-on suspension by about 8 a.m., just as peak rush hour got underway. Around an hour later, NJ Transit said service had been restored with residual delays of up to 90 minutes.
By lunchtime, NJ Transit said delays were down to about 45 minutes — and stayed at that length going into the evening rush hour. Just before 6 p.m., delays had shrunk to a half hour, but not long after, the agency said that there were delays up to 90 minutes "due to a disabled Amtrak train near Penn Station New York and earlier overhead wire issues."
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
NJ Transit said the cause of the issue that hampered service was still under investigation, as they worked with Amtrak to determine the root cause. They also the incidents and their impact were "clearly not acceptable" for customers to have to deal with.
In a statement, the transit agency said they and Amtrak will "continue to meet regularly with key staff to clinically get to the root causes of these incidents. The goal is to ensure that all departments involved on both sides are fully aligned to reduce such occurrences while we work collectively on the longer-term work that needs to be prioritized on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor to replace and upgrade their antiquated infrastructure."
U.S. & World
Stories that affect your life across the U.S. and around the world.
Midtown Direct trains were diverted to Hoboken for much of the day, but that ended in the evening. NJ Transit rail tickets and passes are being honored by NJ Transit bus, private carriers, and PATH at Newark, Hoboken and 33rd Street, NJ Transit said.
Passengers can find more information on alternate routes here.
The delays come just weeks before a price hike is set to go into effect at NJ Transit. And it's just the most recent occurrence of commuting headaches with the transit agency, as New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called Amtrak delays "incredibly disruptive" to residents, calling on Amtrak and NJ Transit to make infrastructure investments.
