New York

Your Commute Guide for Tuesday After NY Penn Derailment, Flooding Create Abject Nightmare

An NJ Transit derailment largely closed New York Penn Station on Monday and flooding made matters worse Tuesday

What to Know

  • Monday's derailment at NY Penn largely crippled the Manhattan hub, and service changes continued through Tuesday
  • Flooding from powerful overnight storms made matters worse
  • Amtrak, LIRR and NJ Transit are all operating on modified schedules; there's no estimated timetable for full service restoration

Lingering service changes stemming from Monday's NJ Transit derailment at New York's Penn Station are posing more headaches for commuters Tuesday, and a wind-driven powerful rain storm has only made matters worse

With more thunderstorms in the forecast for Tuesday afternoon and full restoration of rail service in and out of Penn still days away, here's what you need to know (for real-time updates, click here):

NJ TRANSIT

  • New Jersey Transit Executive Director Steve Santoro said Tuesday that eight tracks in the station are either unusable or partially usable. It's not clear when full service in and out of New York Penn will be back. Service on the busy Northeast Corridor (NEC) and North Jersey Coast Line (NJCL) are operating on a holiday schedule; this means trains will not operate to or from the Jersey Avenue and Avenel stations. 
  • In addition to the holiday schedule, NJ Transit is operating three more trains on the NEC: a 4:38 p.m. and 5:28 p.m. to Jersey Avenue and a 6:31 p.m. local to Trenton, which will also stop at Jersey Avenue. Two trains will be added to the NJCL: a 5:38 p.m. and a 6:38 p.m. to Bay Head. 
  • Midtown Direct trains will continue to operate in and out of Hoboken Terminal, where customers can access PATH and NJ Transit bus service. PATH will also be increasing service.
  • Raritan Valley Line service will operate on a regular weekday schedule and originate/terminate at Newark Penn Station.
  • Main/Bergen, Pascack Valley and Port Jervis Lines will operate on regular weekday schedules.
  • Atlantic City Rail line rail service will operate on a regular weekday schedule.
  • Customers are encouraged to check njtransit.com for complete details.
  • Cross-honoring remains in effect with NJ Transit bus, private carrier bus, NY Waterway ferry, and PATH at Newark, Hoboken and 33rd Street.
  • Hoboken services will also be impacted due to the additional trains in the terminal. If the Tuesday morning commute was any indication, congestion during the evening rush would contribute to major delays.

  • NJ Transit and private bus carriers are increasing bus service as much as possible on routes along the affected rail lines. Academy will enhance its PNC park-and-ride service to accommodate North Jersey Coast Line customers. Suburban Transit will also add service to accommodate Northeast Corridor customers.

In Photos: Commuter Chaos After Derailment, Flooding

LIRR

  • Ten morning rush hour trains to Penn Station will be canceled Wednesday. Three others will terminate at Jamaica and one wil ldivert to Hunterspoint Avenue in Queens. The remaining LIRR trains to Penn Station could experience delays and crowding. New York City Transit will corss-honor LIRR tickets for continuing service to Midtown Manhattan from Brooklyn and Queens. Click here for a complete detailed list.
  • The LIRR planned to cancel 18 peak trains from Penn between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tuesday and divert eight others. Extensive delays and overcrowding were expected. New York City Transit will cross-honor LIRR tickets at 34th Street-Penn Station on the 1, 2, 3 and A, C, E. Eastbound cancellations affect the Babylon, Far Rockaway, Hempstead, Long Beach, Port Jefferson and Port Washington branches. Click here for a complete detailed list of the scheduled cancellations.
  • The LIRR will operate on near normal schedules out of Atlantic Terminal, Brooklyn, and Hunterspoint Avenue, Queens. 
  • LIRR will primarily operate out of Tracks 17 through 21 as a result of the post-derailment track work. In some instances, LIRR customers may be advised of trains departing from Tracks 10, 11 or 12, which are accessible from the Exit Corridor closer to Eighth Avenue, or via NJ TRANSIT’s concourse.
  • There will be no westbound service between Jamaica and Penn Station from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Customers will be able to transfer to the E subway for continuing service to Penn Station. New York City Transit will cross-honor LIRR tickets at Woodside and Jamaica.
  • From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., westbound Port Washington Branch trains will terminate at Woodside, where customers will be able to transfer to the 7 subway for continued service to Manhattan. 
Chris Cimino has your stormy forecast for Tuesday, April 4.

PATH

  • Cross-honoring remains in effect and increased service was expected, though PATH wasn't proving to be a reliable alternative.
  • PATH is increasing the number of trains on its Hoboken-33rd Street and Journal Square-33rd Street lines for Tuesday's evening rush to accomodate higher ridership demand. 
  • All PATH services have resumed normal service following equipment repairs on the Hoboken-33rd Street line near Hoboken Terminal. A track condition was causing delays on the line earlier in the afternoon. 

AMTRAK

  • A top Amtrak official said Tuesday a switch machine was badly damaged in Monday's derailment. Echoing Santoro's earlier comments, the official would not even speculate on when service might return to normal.
  • Amtrak will operate a modified schedule on the Northeast Corridor through Thursday. Customers on trains arriving/departing New York Penn Station may experience delays up to 50 minutes during rush hours and up to 25 minutes during non-rush hours.
  • Due to reduced track capacity, the Northeast Regional service will operate a modified schedule with reduced frequencies between Washington, D.C. and New York. To accommodate passengers during the modified schedule, Amtrak is providing some additional stops in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey on Tuesday.
  • The Empire Service and Keystone Service will also run on a modified schedule with some reduced frequencies.
  • All long distance trains that normally travel to and from the Northeast Corridor will maintain normally scheduled service. 

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NYC TRANSIT

  • Signal problems and overcrowding caused delays and service changes on multiple lines throughout the morning, including the B, D, F, A, C, R, W, 6 and J. Later in the afternoon, switch problems affected service, and more delays were expected for the evening rush between expected bad weather and throngs of people seeking commute alternatives following Monday's derailment.

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FERRY

  • Staten Island Ferry was operating on a modified schedule earlier in the morning, with service about every 20 minutes, because of low visibility.
  • NY Waterway is on schedule and will accept all NJ Transit tickets on all routes Tuesday and Wednesday. On Wednesday, NY Waterway will operate a special ferry route for NJ Transit ticketh-holders only that runs from Hoboken Terminal to Midtown West 39th Street. Free NY Waterway buses meet the ferries and take passengers on several crosstown routes. 
  • East River Ferry is on schedule.
  • There is no direct service to and from Hoboken and Jersey City on the Seastreak. 

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