Stranded NJ Transit, Amtrak commuters face long waits after all service halted for second time in a week
Commuters trying to get home to New Jersey are facing a nightmare Thursday evening after all NJ Transit and Amtrak trains out of New York were temporarily halted follow a raging brushfire.
All NJ Transit and Amtrak trains out of New York Penn Station were stopped for the second time this week after an equipment failure, again outraging fed-up riders trying to get back to their homes.
“We’re stuck in this trap and it’s frickin’ ridiculous,” New Jersey resident Murali Medicherla told the Post from a packed departure hall at New York Penn Station.
A “malfunctioning circuit breaker” caused a power outage between New York Penn Station and Newark Penn Station, according to Amtrak, suspending rail service for three hours right at the peak of the afternoon rush.
“Compounding the service impacts caused by the Amtrak overhead wires, there is a significant brush fire in the vicinity of County Road that is impacting wire repairs,” NJ Transit said in a statement.
Secaucus firefighters and the New Jersey Forest Fire Service battled a “multi-acre wildfire” in a marsh area between exits 15X and 16E on the turnpike, according to fire officials. The heavy smoke slowed traffic on the busy highway.
The fire was extinguished by 4:45 p.m., according to the Secaucus Police Department.
It was not immediately clear if the fire was related to the power outage.
Power was finally restored around 5:30 p.m., Amtrak announced, however “significant residual delays are expected on the Northeast Corridor as we work to restore normal operations.”
NJ Transit said around 6 p.m. that trains have resumed running in and out of Penn Station but with delays up to 90 minutes.
Hundreds of commuters packed into the NJ Transit area of New York Penn Station staring anxiously at the train schedule — which showed that nearly every train was delayed or canceled due to the wiring issue.
Many were frustrated that NJ Transit is scheduled to hike its fares by a whopping 15% beginning on July 1 despite the unreliable service.
“My frustration is that on July 1, they’re increasing the prices 15%… That’s an arm and a leg that we’re paying to come here,” Elliot Zeitune, 44, of Long Beach in Ocean County said.
“We don’t see them doing any work to fix [the trains],” he added. “It’s always just the same problem and they put a bandaid on it.”
Zeitune, 44, said this is the fourth shutdown in the last two weeks. When his train was halted in Secaucus last time, he said he’d “never seen an Uber line so long in my life” with prices skyrocketing up to $200 for a simple ride to the suburbs.
“We live so far away, there’s no other option. You just have to sit here, bite your nails, read, and just kill time,” he said.
Graham Hubbs, 47, was in the city to visit friends and was trying to get to Deep River, Conn. for a weeks-long writers retreat where he hopes to work on his book. When he spoke with The Post he’d been waiting nearly three hours.
“I really just want to get on with my day, so it’s worth it to just sit here and wait,” he said.
Medicherla said he thinks NJ Transit’s price increase could dissuade New Jersey residents from working in the city. NJ Transit said all rail tickets and passes were being cross-honored by NJ Transit and private bus carriers as well as PATH trains from Newark Penn, Hoboken and 33rd Street, New York.
