An early morning fire at Manhattan’s Penn Station resulted in widespread travel disruptions on Friday morning for Amtrak, NJ Transit, and the Long Island Railroad, creating chaos for train-bound commuters. The incident occurred near the entrance of the North River Tunnel, which connects Penn Station to New Jersey. As a result, LIRR services faced numerous cancellations, with limited services resuming around 7 a.m. NJ Transit trains to Newark and Amtrak services south of New York were also suspended.
Amtrak reported significant delays in its services between New York City and northern destinations. The impact extended beyond the North River Tunnel, affecting NJ Transit and MetroNorth operations on the Pascack Valley and Port Jervis lines.
“Due to Amtrak overhead wire damage resulting from an earlier Amtrak track car fire in one tube of the North River Tunnel, NJ Transit rail service is suspended between Penn Station New York and Newark Penn Station,” the Garden State railroad posted on social media early Friday.
Firefighters responded promptly to the blaze, which began around 1:25 a.m. An Amtrak contractor maintenance vehicle ignited near the tunnel. Shortly after, firefighters received calls about a work train fire at the station. By 2:43 a.m., the fire was declared a two-alarm blaze. The FDNY deployed 141 firefighters and EMS personnel to control the fire, finally extinguishing it by 4 a.m.
The FDNY reported five injuries, with three individuals refusing medical treatment on-site, while two were taken to Bellevue Hospital with serious injuries. Mayor Mamdani expressed gratitude to the emergency responders in a social media post, saying, “I’m grateful to the brave firefighters and EMS members who responded quickly to extinguish this train fire and protect New Yorkers in a moment of danger. Let’s keep those who were injured in our thoughts and wish them a swift, full recovery.”
Amtrak stated that the fire damaged overhead wires that power their and NJ Transit trains. Consequently, Amtrak’s southbound services are anticipated to remain suspended until Friday afternoon. The railroad promised rebooking opportunities and refunds as it worked to restore regular service.
This is the second instance of service disruption at the nation’s busiest rail hub recently. Earlier this month, a hanging panel from an Amtrak Acela train caused an electrical fire, resulting in a two-day service outage, as originally reported by the Daily News.