A fire broke out on an Amtrak work train car at New York’s Penn Station, leaving five workers injured.
New York City Fire Department officials said the fire broke out at about 1:30 a.m. Friday and grew into a two-alarm blaze. There were 141 personnel who responded to fight the fire, which was put out by about 4:05 a.m., according to the New York Post.
The five people injured were all transit workers, with two of them taken to a hospital, according to New York’s WINS radio.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chief Janno Lieber said the blaze was the result of two Amtrak trains colliding, leading to an electrical fire, according to WABC-TV.
The fire has caused several delays and cancellations with Amtrak, NJ Transit and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Long Island Rail Road.
Amtrak said that “due to unforeseen track and signal maintenance resulting from a now extinguished fire in the New York area, all services traveling south of New York (NYP) are temporarily suspended. This suspension is anticipated to be in place until noon at a minimum.”
NJ Transit service between Penn Station in New York City and Newark Penn Station was suspended until about 1 p.m., though the agency says the resumed service “is subject to up to 60-minute delays with cancellations expected.”
The Long Island Rail Road was partially suspended with some trains redirected, but was able to resume its normal service by about 6 a.m., according to the Post.
New York officials have lambasted Amtrak over the incident.
Mr. Lieber said at a news conference Friday that “we are all dependent on Amtrak’s broken infrastructure.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, wrote on X that “Amtrak incidents in Penn Station’s tunnels harm our entire regional transit system. … Riders deserve better than a summer of delays and excuses.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, also a Democrat, took a different tack.
“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,” he posted on X.
