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Jersey car crash causes massive Amtrak outage between NYC and Philadelphia

2014-05-15_15_01_21_Amtrak_train_heading_south_along_the_Northeast_Corridor_rail_line_in_Trenton,_New_Jersey
An Amtrak train heads south in Trenton, New Jersey.
Famartin via Wikimedia Commons

Rail service between New York City and Philadelphia was suspended for hours Monday after a driver crashed into a pole and downed an Amtrak power line in New Jersey, according to officials with the inter-city train company.

The motor vehicle crash downed a pole carrying Amtrak power in Edison, disrupting power starting at 2:20 a.m. on May 2 for a large section of the Northeast Corridor — one of the busiest and economically vital transportation networks in the world.

The service suspension between the Big Apple and the City of Brotherly Love lies at the center of rail lines connecting Washington, D.C., to Boston.

Amtrak trains still ran from Philadelphia to the south and from New York to the north during the closure. 

The rail company reopened two of its four tracks along the section and service resumed just before 1 p.m., according to Amtrak spokesperson Jason Abrams.

The snafu also affected NJ Transit, which halted train service between Trenton and Rahway in the Garden State, with limited runs between Rahway and New York, according to agency rep Jim Smith.

That agency said that it would cross-honor rail tickets and passes on NJ Transit buses, as did private carriers and PATH trains at Newark Penn Station, Hoboken, and 33rd Street in the city.

NJ Transit trains also returned in the early afternoon, but still bypassed some stations near the incident heading east toward the city.