HARRISON, N.J. — A commuter train derailed yesterday morning, halting service on NJ Transit’s Midtown Direct line, according to a wire service report.
The engine and front wheels of the second car of an eight-car train traveling between Dover and New York jumped the tracks about 7:30 a.m., an NJ Transit spokesman said. The cars remained upright and no one was injured. The cause was under investigation.
Midtown Direct service was suspended, with trains being rerouted into Hoboken, where passengers could take PATH or ferry service to Manhattan.
Delays of more than an hour were reported on NJ Transit’s Morris and Essex lines in and out of Hoboken. NJ Transit and Lakeland buses were honoring rail tickets in an effort to get commuters to their destinations.
By midmorning, only one track was available for inbound and outbound service, said NJ Transit spokeswoman Penny Bassett Hackett. Three tracks are used on a typical weekday morning.
Amtrak service was not affected by the derailment, Bassett Hackett said. New York-bound service on the Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coastline also were unaffected, she said.
Transit officials said they would assess the damage to the tracks after a crane re-railed the cars later Thursday.
Bassett Hackett said she did not know what effect the derailment would have on the evening rush out of New York.
Frustrated commuters jammed the platform at Broad Street station in Newark, where overhead speakers first announced that all trains to New York were subject to a one-hour delay, and then announced that all service to New York had been suspended.
That did not go over well with Aqueelah Treadwell, who was trying to get home to East Orange from her overnight job in Morristown.
“I worked 10 hours and now I’m stuck here,” she said. “All I want to do is go home. My daughter can’t go to school because of this. She has no one to take her.”
Lureen Clermont was also trying to get to East Orange. She had just completed a night shift at a Morristown hospital and was now late for her second job.
“I’ve been sitting here for almost two hours now,” she said. “I can’t wait another hour here. I’ve got to try to find a bus or something.”
Pierre Gaines of Newark was two hours late for his job in Manhattan, but said he didn’t mind the delay.
“It’s better to be late here on a platform than to have been on a train that derailed. I’m blessed to come here late. I look at this a safety issue. As long as I get there in one piece. It’s a good day,” he said.
He was waiting for a train that was to pick up stranded passengers and take them to Hoboken, where they could transfer to PATH service into Manhattan.