NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Rail commuters again suffered through lengthy delays Friday morning, this time stemming from a disabled Amtrak maintenance train in the Hudson River tunnel.
Earlier this week an outbound train was stranded for an hour when it lost power. And the century-old Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River malfunctioned Tuesday, causing lengthy delays during the evening commute.
Friday’s problems began at about 2:30 a.m. when an Amtrak maintenance equipment car became disabled in the tunnel’s north tube. A rescue train sent to move the equipment car derailed, and it took until just before 7 a.m. for the train to be put back on the rails.
By 10:30 a.m., all equipment had been cleared out of the tunnel, according to Amtrak. By then, the damage to train schedules had been done, with trains delayed up to an hour as they were forced to use one of the tunnel’s two tubes.
Commuters have been plagued by train delays and cancellations in recent months as New Jersey Transit scrambles to meet a Dec. 31 deadline for installing positive train control, an emergency braking system required by the federal government.
Last month, NJ Transit began making further schedule reductions and adjustments to accommodate the work. In tandem with the news of the adjustments, NJ Transit announced it would cut fares 10 percent for daily and monthly tickets for three months starting this month. Regular service is expected to resume by mid-January.
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