Penn Station Becomes 'Madhouse' As Trains Snarled By Major Delays

From CBS New York:

MIDTOWN, NY – New Jersey Transit service is mostly back on track following massive delays and cancellations during last night’s commute.

It all started around 5 p.m., when an NJ Transit train coming into New York became disabled, leaving riders stuck at Penn Station for at least two hours.

“It was a madhouse,” Sammy Erdal, of Secacus, told CBS2’s Jenna DeAngelis.

“A little bit of a fiasco, lot of people,” Noel Morgan, of Emerson, said.

Frustrated commuters shared photos and videos on social media as they tried to get home.

“It was horrific. It took me almost three hours to get home,” said Deanna Raymend, of Lindhurst.

“Miserable. Probably the worst one I’ve had in a number of years,” Liz Radis said. “Standing there for hours with no delays on when it was going to be restored or really what the problem was.”

NJ Transit blamed the delays on power issues related to overhead wires outside Penn Station, which are owned by Amtrak.

“I was on the train, and all of a sudden, the power went out, we got stuck on the train and we had to wait for them to come rescue us,” said Angela Payne, of Brooklyn.

Midtown Direct service was diverted to Hoboken, causing major delays on PATH trains, where NJ Transit cross-honored tickets.

“We ended up having to Uber back, because we weren’t standing in that line,” one person said. “[It cost] like $100.”

About nine hours later, service was restored around 2 a.m. Tuesday.

The mess came just days after the release of a New Jersey state audit revealing there were 18,000 delayed trains between 2017 and May of 2019. Auditors said the issue was due to circumstances which could have been prevented by the agency.

CBS2s asked Gov. Phil Murphy about the audit Friday, but he declined to comment. A statement from his office pointed out that under his administration, there’s been a 35% reduction in cancellations from 2018-2019 and more engineers have been trained.

“New Jersey Transit has not impressed me overall,” said Andy Fately, of Basking Ridge. “It’s hard for me to say that it’s gotten any better in the last five years.”

“As commuters, we want some sort of an apology. I know that’s ridiculous and not rational,” Raymend said. “So it’s really frustrating.”

Amtrak told CBS2 it’s actively investigating what caused the power outage. In the meantime, riders should expect residual delays.

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