UPDATED: NJ Transit Service Limited For Evening Ride; Amtrak Train Derails Near NY Penn Station

A derailed Amtrak train sideswiped a NJ Transit train near New York Penn Station on Friday morning, causing minor injuries to some passengers and crew members and forcing NJ Transit to suspend rail service, authorities say.

Amtrak stated that Acela Express and Northeast Regional service between Newark and New York will be subject to delays as a result of the derailment.

"NJ Transit service will terminate either in Newark Penn Station or Secaucus," Amtrak officials said. "Keystone Service will end and originate in Newark where passengers can transfer to Northeast Regional trains into New York. PATH will also honor Keystone Service ticketed passengers in and out of New York. Empire Service passengers will be transferred to Metro North for service into and out of Grand Central Terminal."

NJ Transit officials announced Friday afternoon that the agency is preparing a service plan for the afternoon peak period, but riders may face delays.

"NJ Transit will operate limited outbound service due to track constraints from New York Penn Station beginning at 4 p.m.," the agency stated in a news release. "There also will be hourly service into New York from Trenton and Long Branch with stops at Newark and Secaucus. A schedule will be posted this afternoon. Midtown direct trains will continue to operate in and out of Hoboken Terminal."

Cross-honoring will remain in effect with NJ Transit bus, private carrier bus, NY Waterway and PATH trains at Newark, Hoboken and 33rd St., officials stated.

Hoboken services will also be impacted due to the additional trains in the terminal. Because of track limitation in the terminal some Summit-bound trains will be impacted, officials said.

"Due to the circumstances, customers are asked to be patient and give themselves additional travel time," NJ Transit officials emphasized.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Amtrak officials released the following statement about the incident:

"Around 9 a.m., Acela Express Train 2151 had a minor derailment while moving at a slow speed while departing New York Penn Station. The rear of the train was still on the platform, and all 248 passengers have exited the train onto the platform and into the station safely. Service into and out of New York Penn Station will be delayed while we investigate this incident."

The train originated in Boston and was heading to Washington, DC, Amtrak officials stated.

NJ Transit officials issued a statement about the incident Friday afternoon.

"Around 9 a.m. this morning, NJ Transit's Montclair-Boonton line train #6214 was sideswiped by an Amtrak Acela train as several cars of the Amtrak train derailed near New York’s Penn Station. Several minor injuries were reported to NJ Transit customers and crew members. NJ Transit train #6214 was inbound at slow speed to New York Penn Station on Track 3 with about 1,000 customers on board when the incident occurred."

Riders were able to exit the train on the platform, NJ Transit officials stated.

The incident caused rail service suspensions for trains in and out of New York Penn Station Friday morning, NJ Transit officials said.

"NJ Transit is inspecting the extent of the damage to train #6214 and working cooperatively with Amtrak and federal officials as the investigation moves forward," the agency stated.

'A BANG AND A BURNED METAL SMELL'

Corky Siemaszko, a senior writer at NBC News Digital, told Patch that he was sitting on the top level in the last car of the train and dozing a bit when he was jolted awake by a sudden bang.

"When I opened my eyes, we were already in the station and I could see the platform and there was this burned metal smell," Siemaszko said. "There was no panic in my car. Everybody was more curious about what was going on than rattled. And there was no pushing or shoving to get off the train. I thought we’d run over something because it felt like the jolt came from underneath. I didn’t realize we’d been sideswiped until I got outside and noticed the mangled metal on the last two cars. That’s when I realized that this was pretty serious and started taking pictures."

The following video footage at the scene of the incident comes courtesy of NBC New York. Read the full report here.