NJ-Manhattan Train Service Blocked

TRENTON, N.J. – Damage to electrical wires halted a passenger train in a tunnel under the Hudson River for nearly two hours Sunday and blocked rail service between New Jersey and New York City’s Pennsylvania Station, railroad officials said.

NJ Transit and Amtrak passenger service between New Jersey and Penn Station was suspended shortly before 9 a.m. and was not expected to resume until early afternoon, NJ Transit said.

Problems with the overhead power lines halted a train headed into the mid-Manhattan station a little before 9 a.m., said NJ Transit spokesman Dan Stessel. Passengers on that train had to wait until they could be transferred in the tunnel onto another train, and didn’t reach Penn Station until shortly before 11 a.m., he said.

The problem closed one of the tunnels leading to Penn Station during the busy pre-Thanksgiving weekend. An alternate rail tunnel was already closed for scheduled maintenance.

The PATH train system, which provides passenger service through tunnels entering lower Manhattan, was honoring NJ Transit tickets in Hoboken and Newark.