Five people were injured early on Friday when an Amtrak maintenance train car caught fire in a tunnel near New York’s Penn Station, authorities said.
Injuries and casualties
Fire officials said two of the five injured individuals suffered serious injuries and were taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment. The remaining three declined medical attention at the scene. All five are believed to be transit workers. The fire was reported around 1:30 a.m. on Track 11 within one of the Hudson River tunnels, escalating to a two-alarm response by roughly 3 a.m.
Service disruptions
The blaze caused widespread disruption to commuter and intercity rail services. Amtrak announced on X that it had suspended all services into and out of New York until at least noon, warning of lengthy delays for trains traveling north of the city. Services south of New York, including routes to Washington D.C. and Philadelphia, were also suspended and were not expected to be fully restored until later Friday afternoon.
New Jersey Transit posted on X that an Amtrak train car was on fire in one of the Hudson River tunnels, resulting in overhead wire damage. The operator said impacts would last through the morning rush hour, with Midtown Direct services diverted to Hoboken Terminal. The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) briefly suspended service, but restored full operations out of Penn Station by approximately 7 a.m., with all services back to normal by 10 a.m.
Extent of overhead wire damage and its impact
The fire caused significant damage to overhead wires and track infrastructure, according to both NJ Transit and Amtrak. Firefighters reported difficulty cutting power to the third rail before they could extinguish the blaze, a problem that compounded the disruption. The overhead wire damage forced the suspension of all electric-powered services through the affected tunnels, effectively severing the busiest rail corridor into Manhattan during the early morning commute. Amtrak described the work needed as “maintenance resulting from a now extinguished fire” and warned that delays would persist for hours. Penn Station, located beneath Madison Square Garden, typically handles roughly 600,000 passengers daily across Amtrak, the New York subway system, NJ Transit and the LIRR — meaning the knock-on effects of even a partial shutdown ripple across the entire region’s transport network.
Response and investigation
More than 100 firefighters responded to the scene, with some reports indicating up to 141 personnel and 46 units. The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) accessed the underground blaze through an emergency exit. The fire was brought under control around 4 a.m. The cause remains under investigation, and an email seeking further comment was sent to Amtrak.
The incident comes just over a week after a three-day strike by LIRR workers shut down that system from 16 to 18 May. Approximately 3,500 workers across five unions walked out after contract negotiations collapsed over pay and healthcare, disrupting travel for more than 300,000 daily commuters. It is also the second fire-related disruption at Penn Station in two weeks. On 14 May, an electrical fire in the East River Tunnels caused severe damage to tracks and overhead wiring, leading to LIRR diversions and cancellations, though no injuries were reported. On 20 May, a brush fire near Secaucus, New Jersey, close to one of the Hudson River tunnels, halted NJ Transit service into and out of Penn Station.
The repeated disruptions have drawn sharp criticism from elected officials and transport leaders. MTA CEO Janno Lieber criticised Amtrak, stating that Penn Station had been disrupted multiple times in recent weeks and urging the rail operator to conduct repairs during off-peak hours. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker called the incident “unacceptable and extremely frustrating”, while expressing concern for the injured and gratitude that the damage was not worse. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani thanked the responding firefighters and EMS personnel and wished a swift recovery to those injured.
