(The Associated Press circulated the following article on March 29.)
NEW YORK — Smoke from a cable fire halted Long Island Rail Road trains traveling through Pennsylvania Station for about 30 minutes during Tuesday evening’s rush hour, delaying thousands of commuters.
The fire department was called to find the source of the smoke, which appeared in one of four tunnels between Penn Station and Queens and migrated to a second, said Cliff Black, a spokesman for Amtrak, which owns and operates the tunnels.
By the time firefighters found the source _ burning insulation on some wires _ the fire was out, fire department spokesman Ken Durante said. The cause of the fire hadn’t been identified.
There was no service between Jamaica, Queens, and Penn Station, in midtown Manhattan, between about 6:40 p.m. and 7:10 p.m., LIRR spokesman Sam Zambuto said. Scattered delays continued into the evening.
About 70,000 people ride LIRR trains during a typical weekday evening rush hour.