A fire broke out at Penn Station in New York City early Friday morning, disrupting service for thousands and injuring several people.
Firefighters responded to a blaze on an Amtrak work train in one of the Hudson River Tunnels around 1:30 a.m., deploying 46 units and 141 personnel, officials said. The fire was brought under control just after 4 a.m., and the cause of the debacle remains under investigation.
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The incident caused sweeping delays for morning commuters in the country’s largest city and appeared to injure five railroad workers, including two who were hospitalized.
New Jersey Transit, Long Island Railroad, and Amtrak have been forced to suspend service into the Manhattan station for hours. LIRR service resumed around 5:45 a.m. Amtrak expects service to be suspended until noon, according to WABC.
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The incident comes as the Trump administration has said “transformative investments” are necessary to modernize Penn Station, sparking praise from Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY). The Department of Transportation has taken over a massive renovation project planned for the station from the city, saying it plans to accelerate the $8 billion makeover targeting “Penn Station’s cramped hallways, broken infrastructure, and snarled rail lines,” starting in 2027.
“We took over the transformation of New York Penn Station because the project was behind schedule, over budget, and hopelessly mismanaged,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said last week as he unveiled the developer team awarded the project. “One year later, we continue to hit major milestones at record speed.”
