New York

Christie Accuses Amtrak of Holding Passengers ‘Hostage' on Stuck Train Last Week

The governor continued his war of words with the railroad over the state of its infrastructure

Gov. Chris Christie continued his full-throated attack on Amtrak on Monday, accusing the railroad of holding passengers "hostage" on a stuck train last week.

An NJ Transit train with about 1,200 passengers became stuck in a tunnel between New York and New Jersey for nearly three hours on Friday, when Amtrak was experiencing overhead power problems. The train finally reached New York Penn Station late Friday evening, after causing delays for the evening commute that exceeded two hours. 

The incident came close on the heels of two recent derailments in Penn Station, one of which closed more than a third of the station's tracks for four days. Amtrak owns and operates the station.

"Amtrak's failure to adequately maintain its facilities was again on display last week, as was its total lack of concern for the commuting public when 1,200 people waited two hours for EMS personnel to respond to the scene during the three hours they were held hostage in an Amtrak tunnel on Friday," Christie said in a statement.

The governor -- not known for being circumspect -- has had particular ire for Amtrak of late. After the second derailment, he blasted the railroad for failing to keep up with repairs and asked New Jersey's attorney general to consider suing it. 

Amtrak's response to the governor's latest shot was not immediately available. 

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