A fire in a train car in a railway area near Penn Station in New York injured five people and caused travel disruptions for many passengers early Friday morning, authorities announced. Specifically, an Amtrak car caught fire inside the Hudson River tunnel, causing damage to overhead power cables, according to New Jersey Transit.
The fire caused delays to New Jersey Transit and Amtrak rail services to New York, while also temporarily suspending Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) services, just over a week after a strike had paralyzed that particular network. New Jersey Transit reported in a post on X that it was an Amtrak car that had caught fire “in one of the Hudson River tunnels.” It added that the fire caused “damage to overhead power cables.” “The impacts are expected to last throughout the morning rush hour,” it stated.
New York train car fire: Two injured hospitalized
Amtrak also announced via X that it suspended its services at least until noon due to maintenance work arising “from a fire that has now been extinguished in the New York area.” It noted that major delays are expected for trains traveling north of New York. Fire department officials said 100 firefighters responded to the incident early Friday morning and that five people were injured. Two were taken to the hospital. Their condition was not immediately known.
Penn Station, located beneath Madison Square Garden, can serve approximately 600,000 passengers daily through Amtrak, New York’s subway system, New Jersey Transit, and the LIRR.
