A blaze involving a train car in a rail yard close to New York’s Penn Station left five people injured and caused widespread disruptions to regional rail services during Friday morning’s commute, according to officials.
The incident led to service delays for New Jersey Transit and Amtrak trains heading into New York, while Long Island Rail Road service was temporarily halted. This comes just over a week following a strike that had previously shut down that rail system.
According to a post on X by New Jersey Transit, an Amtrak train car caught fire “in one of the Hudson River tunnels.” The agency reported that the blaze caused “overhead wire damage.”
“Impacts are expected to last through the morning rush hour,” the transit agency stated.
In its own X post, Amtrak announced it had halted service until at least noon Friday because of maintenance work following “from a now extinguished fire in the New York area.” The railroad warned that extended delays were anticipated for trains heading north from New York.
Amtrak did not provide details about the fire incident itself. The company has been contacted for additional information.
According to fire department officials, 100 firefighters were dispatched to battle the early Friday blaze, which resulted in five injuries. Two of the injured individuals required hospital transport. Information about their medical status was not immediately available.
Penn Station, located beneath Madison Square Garden, handles approximately 600,000 passengers each day through Amtrak, the New York subway system, New Jersey Transit and the LIRR.
