LIRR on or close to schedule after Penn delays from Amtrak car derailment

The LIRR had 10- to 15-minute delays into Penn Station during the Friday morning rush due to a derailed Amtrak track car in a Hudson River tunnel, then returned to on or close to schedule by 10 a.m.

Earlier, track capacity at the station was reduced, the Long Island Rail Road said in a service advisory about 7 a.m. Multiple trains were canceled at Jamaica Station, combined or diverted to Atlantic Terminal. 

NYC Transit cross-honored LIRR tickets at Jamaica, Penn Station, Kew Gardens, Forest Hills, Woodside and Flushing-Main Street from about 7:20 to 9:30 a.m.

Amtrak said the issues were from a rail maintenance equipment car that was disabled about 2:30 a.m. due to mechanical failure in the north tube of the two-track North River Tunnel from New Jersey. Amtrak sent a rescue train.

"While attempting to move the disabled rail maintenance equipment car, one set of wheels on the disabled rail maintenance equipment car derailed," Amtrak spokesman Jason Abrams said in a statement. The equipment was rerailed just before 7 a.m. Heavy delays for Amtrak trains and other trains from New Jersey continued beyond then.

Amtrak cleared the track car before noon and said there was no damage to infrastructure.

The delays showed the need for a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River, the Gateway Program Development Corp. trustees said in a statement Friday morning. Amtrak’s ongoing $13 billion Gateway plan includes a new tunnel and a rebuilt Portal Bridge. 

"Today's delays would not have happened with a new Gateway tunnel, which will create badly needed resiliency so trains can operate around minor disruptions without wreaking havoc on the entire Northeast Corridor rail system," the trustees said.

Amtrak apologized for the delays in its statement.

With Alfonso A. Castillo