(The Associated Press circulated the following story on April 19.)
NEW YORK — A Long Island Rail Road train and an empty Amtrak train rear-ended as they approached Penn Station during the early morning rush Monday.
Both railroads characterized the accident as minor. It occurred just west of the East River Tunnel at a point where trains switch from one track to another. There were some reports of minor injuries.
The LIRR train left Ronkonkoma at 5:42 a.m. and was due in Penn Station at 7:02, when the accident with the Amtrak train occurred at 7:05 a.m., the LIRR said.
It was not immediately clear how the accident occurred and which train was bumped from behind.
The accident caused scattered five to 10 minute delays on LIRR trains into Penn Station, and some trains were diverted to Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. Passengers were advised to listen to instructions at Jamaica Station to learn if they needed to transfer.
Amtrak spokesman Dan Stessel the Amtrak Regional Service train had left the Sunnyside, Queens, yard to Penn Station to pickup passengers at 7:30 a.m. for a trip to Washington, D.C., when one of the trains bumped the other from behind.
He said Amtrak passengers would be accommodated on another train.