(The following story by Martha T. Moore appeared on the USA Today website on August 24, 2010.)
NEW YORK — Commuter trains from Washington, D.C., to New York were halted in mid-rush-hour Tuesday morning by electrical problems on Amtrak’s rail line, delaying tens of thousands of commuters en route to work.
Thousands more rail passengers were delayed by ongoing problems on the Long Island Railroad, which serves New York City’s eastern suburbs, after a fire at a switching station Monday.
Amtrak spokeswoman Karina Romero said the railroad didn’t immediately know the cause of the “low-voltage problem,” which began at 7:45 a.m. ET on the Northeast Corridor line.
Amtrak owns the line, but the problem also affected regional commuter lines in Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey that use the tracks. Amtrak trains between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pa., also were stopped for more than an hour.
Power was restored at 9:01 a.m., Romero said. Delays lasted until mid-morning.
New Jersey Transit trains into New York City were stranded “at the peak of the peak,” spokesman Dan Stessel said. “We’re waiting to hear what the underlying cause of it was.”
A similar problem in December halted trains between Washington and Boston for three hours. A 2006 power outage stalled railroads from Connecticut to Washington.
“It was a crummy morning, but it could have been worse: It could have been 100 degrees outside,” says Dave Clark, spokesman for MARC, the Maryland regional rail system.
A heat wave that has plagued the East Coast abated Tuesday when temperatures in the Washington-New York corridor were in the 70s.
Arad Sheiber, 30, a Philadelphia commuter, found his train delayed by nearly an hour and a half. “I’m frustrated,” he told the Associated Press. “But I’m kind of used to it by now.”