Early Friday morning, one Amtrak maintenance vehicle catch fire inside Hudson River tunnel wey dey between New York and New Jersey. This fire make Penn Station service stop for NJ Transit and Long Island Rail Road commuters.
Amtrak officials talk say full service between Newark and Penn Station New York no go come back until Monday morning commute. Dem say there be ‘significant damage’ for the area after the Friday morning fire.
Amtrak Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer Gery Williams talk say, ‘There is significant damage and we are working on it. Monday morning rush hour.’ He add say the south tube of the Hudson River tunnel go remain out of service this weekend for both repairs to the fire damage and previously scheduled work.
According to MTA Chief Janno Lieber, everything start when two Amtrak work trains seem to collide, impacting the electrical system and igniting the fire. Lieber yarn during a news conference Friday, ‘We are all dependent on Amtrak’s broken infrastructure.’
FDNY Deputy Chief Michael Barvels explain how dem fight the fire: ‘We had to go through an emergency exit to extinguish the fire, that was the closest option to us. It would have been a significantly difficult stretch of the hose line to go through actually Penn Station itself so we had to go through the emergency exit.’
One man wey dey on a train when e pass by the fire talk say he be shocked and confused why the train allow to pass by the fire. ‘There was this sort of explosion that occurred, we were stuck between 5-8 minutes,’ he say. ‘For me personally I was pretty shocked.’
The engine go up in flames, prompting firefighters to call a second alarm and run hoses into the yard to bring the fire under control. Barvels describe condition as ‘very heavy smoke condition, high heat, a lot of hazards down there, tripping hazards, electrical hazards, but our units, we’re trained for this.’
Authorities say five workers, believed to be railroad employees, injure and treat for smoke inhalation. Two of those injuries be serious, while three others refuse medical attention.
Meanwhile, riders dey left scrambling. Long lines, confused commuters, and people for phone dey try figure out how to reach their destination from Newark Penn Station. Many commuters had to transfer to PATH trains to enter the city.
Commuter Yves Pierre talk, ‘I just literally came into the station and looked at the board and saw all the trains is canceled so that was a huge shock to everybody.’ Another commuter, Eric Jarmon, say, ‘I heard about it this morning I take the train, it’s NJ Transit so you just have to expect these things.’
NJ Transit President and CEO Kris Kolluri update board members Friday morning during a monthly board committee. ‘We have emphasized to Amtrak that they need to stay on top of repairs so these kinds of incidents don’t happen,’ Kolluri talk. ‘But in fairness to them, there are challenges when you have infrastructure that’s 100-plus years old.’
Governor Kathy Hochul express say riders deserve better: ‘Fires. Trains striking debris. Amtrak incidents in Penn Station’s tunnels harm our entire regional transit system. For over a year, I’ve been demanding a plan from Amtrak to complete repairs without hurting commuters. Riders deserve better than a summer of delays and excuses.’
