Power Failure Brings Amtrak and N.J. Transit Trains to a Halt

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A power failure shut down all train service along the Northeast Corridor between Philadelphia and New Haven, Conn., on Thursday afternoon, threatening to create a chaotic evening commute on one of the hottest days of the year. Amtrak said a lack of electricity to power trains forced it to temporarily suspend all service along that 150-mile stretch of rails, which passes through New York City. One of Amtrak’s Acela trains was already running more than an hour late when it got stuck just east of Newark. Another of its trains was stranded in Queens, and Amtrak said it would send a diesel engine to haul that train back to Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan. Amtrak cited “reports of a malfunctioning circuit-breaker” as a probable cause of the failure. It said the failure was not related to a brush fire in Secaucus, N.J., on Thursday afternoon that was burning near train tracks and the New Jersey Turnpike. New Jersey Transit’s commuter service in and out of Penn Station was also suspended because its trains share the portion of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor between New York City and Trenton, N.J.