(The Associated Press circulated the following story on July 20.)
NEWARK, N.J. — A power failure Tuesday stranded rush-hour commuters in sunbaked trains for up to an hour and delayed other passengers for that long, transit officials said.
The 4:30 p.m. outage involved Amtrak’s power supply, but the problem engulfed thousands of riders of New Jersey Transit, which relies on Amtrak track, said Penny Bassett Hackett, a transit spokeswoman.
Five trains were stranded on the tracks, one of them for an hour, said Bassett Hackett.
“When there’s no power, unfortunately, there’s no air conditioning,” she added.
Bassett Hackett said power was restored sometime after 5 p.m., but complications from the outage rippled throughout the entire system.
To get commuters to their destinations, NJ Transit buses cross-honored railroad passes, as did PATH and several private bus lines, Bassett Hackett said.
She said additional customer service personnel were sent to the Hoboken transit hub to help guide commuters through unfamiliar surroundings.
Bassett Hackett did not know the cause of the outage or its precise location.
Amtrak did not immediately return calls for comment.