Trains Stuck In Penn Station Tunnels After Power Outage: Amtrak

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — New York City-bound commuters were left stranded in the decrepit tunnels underneath the Hudson River on Wednesday morning after a power outage affected train operations throughout the northeast, Amtrak officials said.

Three trains were shut down in the south tube of the Hudson River tunnels around 10:30 a.m. due to a "power issue between Trenton and Philadelphia," Amtrak spokesman Jason Abrams said in a statement. The power issue forced the train company to disable all of its trains running between Penn Station and North Philadelphia while Amtrak worked to get the power running.

The power outage also affected NJ Transit, which suspended its Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast and Midtown Direct lines.

Pandemonium broke out on trains trapped inside the Penn Station tunnels, passengers said.

Joey Pistone, who was stuck on one of the trains, told Patch that the power outage caused the train's lights to go out and the air conditioning to turn off.

"A small child was getting upset and started having a panic attack and her mother soothed her as best as she could. There was another passenger who passed out, luckily there was a doctor on board," Pistone said.

The train was at capacity and there was no place to move, Pistone said. After conductors told passengers that a diesel train would pull them into Penn Station, power was restored and the train "very slowly limped us back into the station," the commuter said.

Another passenger said on social media that conductors told passengers that they couldn't use the bathrooms during the power outage and that cafe cars were closed so people had no access to food or water.

Power was restored around 10:45 a.m, and Amtrak lifted its holds on trains by 11 a.m., a spokesman said. The three trains stuck inside Penn Station tunnels were rescued by 11:15 a.m. Amtrak trains running in and out of Penn Station were subject to delays of 60 to 90 minutes following the shutdown.