MTA boss says Penn Station fires are unacceptable'; Amtrak official agrees but calls them anomalies' | amNewYork

A fire involving an Amtrak work train near the Hudson River Tunnel entrance disrupted rail service into and out of Penn Station. The blaze knocked out Amtrak and NJ Transit service between New York and New Jersey until early Friday afternoon and led to Long Island Rail Road cancellations early in the morning, with full LIRR service later restored with delays. Partial restoration for Amtrak and NJ Transit occurred around 1 p.m., but full service was not expected until Monday morning rush hour. MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber criticized the repeated incidents, noting Penn Station had been knocked out multiple times in weeks. Amtrak executives acknowledged the incident was unacceptable while attributing it to separate anomalies, including a maintenance vehicle collision during track rock cleaning near the North River Tunnel.

"Lieber made his remarks to reporters inside Penn Station late Friday morning, following a fire involving an Amtrak work train near the two-tube Hudson River Tunnel entrance just after 1 a.m. on May 29. We have to recognize that this is an unacceptable situation, Lieber said. This is like the third time in a row in the matter of a couple of weeks that we havehad Penn Station knocked out as a matter of problems with Amtrak. Amtrak owns Penn Station, along with the tracks and tunnels connecting to it."

"The blaze knocked out Amtrak and NJ Transit service between New York and New Jersey into early Friday afternoon and caused cancellations on the Long Island Rail Road early in the morning although the latter restored full service with delays by 5:15 a.m. Service on both Amtrak and NJ Transit was partially restored by around 1 p.m, but according to Amtrak, neither will be fully back online until Monday's morning rush hour."

"Not long after that, Amtrak Executive Vice President Gerhard Williams, during a virtual Friday afternoon news conference, agreed with Lieber's characterization that the incident was unacceptable. However, he claimed it marked one of a few recent anomalies, which were not caused by broader issues with Penn Station's infrastructure. They are anomalies, they are completely separate incidents, Williams said. None of the instancesthat he mentioned were caused by infrastructure."

"Williams said Friday's fire was caused by a maintenance vehicle, operated by an Amtrak contractor, that was cleaning the rocks that support the rail tracks just outside of the North River Tunnel that connects New York and New Jersey underneath the Hudson River. He said the vehicle collided with Amtrak maintenance equipment a"

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