Hundreds of city-bound passengers were trapped in a tunnel leading to Penn Station when their Long Island Rail Road train stalled during Thursday morning’s rush-hour commute.
The train, which originated in Port Washington, lost power just as it entered the East River tunnel around 7 a.m., the New York Daily News reported.
The 500 passengers were transferred to a rescue train that took them to Penn Station, an LIRR spokeswoman told the paper, adding that officials are investigating what caused the train to stall.
According to the MTA, residual delays of up to 15 minutes are expected into Penn Station.
Additionally, the Montauk branch of the LIRR is also seeing 60-minute delays and cancellations after an overnight fire caused signal damage near Mastic-Shirley. The MTA suggests using the Ronkonkoma Branch as an alternative, though that line is affected by the delays from the stalled train.
The LIRR stalled train is the latest in a long line of recent issues plaguing the MTA — and countless commuters.
Just two days ago, 34 straphangers were injured when an A train derailed in Harlem due to piece of rail that was improperly stored on a track near the 125th Street stop. As a result, two MTA maintenance supervisors were suspended.
In less than two weeks, Amtrak will begin repair work at Penn Station, ushering in the “summer of hell” for LIRR and New Jersey Transit riders, who will face several service changes as portions of tracks will be closed throughout the rest of the summer.
