NJ Transit Cancels All Penn Station Trains During Hellish Week

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — New Jersey transit riders were stranded in Penn Station Thursday afternoon after every single outbound train was canceled due to a stuck bridge near Secaucus, the transit agency announced.

New Jersey Transit announced that all train service between New Jersey and Penn Station was suspended around 11:20 on Thursday, continuing a hellish week for New York City transit riders that featured smoke-filled stations, packed trains and dangerously full platforms.

Train service in and out of Penn Station was restored around 1:15 p.m., NJ transit officials announced.

Riders hoping to get in and out of New York City during the shutdown were diverted to Hoboken via the PATH train, NJ transit officials announced. The PATH accepted New Jersey Transit rail tickets at Newark, Hoboken and 33rd Street stations. New Jersey Transit buses were also honoring rail tickets.

The culprit Thursday was the notorious Portal Bridge, which spans the Hackensack River west of Secaucus Junction. The bridge was stuck in the open position, so trains could not get over the river, NJ transit officials announced.

In 2014, The Economist labeled the Portal Bridge — built in 1910 — the "Achilles' heel of the Northeast Corridor." In 1996, an Amtrak train crossing over the bridge was sent into the Hackensack River at 67 miles per hour after a rail failed to snap back into place on the swinging bridge, The Economist reported. Forty-three people were injured and the cleanup cost $3.6 million, according to the report.

This is the third day where New York City transit systems have seen a major breakdown in service. Subways were also a mess Thursday as residents tried to get to work. A myriad of problems on Monday caused 15 lines to be delayed and subway passengers reported waiting at long as 40 minutes to catch a train.

Signal problems stalled the A and C trains Wednesday and ones heading into Manhattan from Brooklyn were slowed to a crawl, with some reporting it took 45 minutes to travel two stops.

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