NEW YORK — Amtrak service between New York City and Boston was cancelled for the remainder of today (Saturday, July 6) as of mid-afternoon because of “an ongoing electric power issue,” the passenger operator said in a service alert on its website posted at 5:50 p.m. ET.
An earlier notification indicated that the problem was “due to reports of a malfunctioning circuit breaker causing a power outage on all tracks between New York Penn and New Haven Union Station.” Metro-North trains are continuing to operate between New York and New Haven “on or close” to schedule, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority website, suggesting the problem is on the Hell Gate line used only by Amtrak trains between Harold Interlocking in Queens and New Rochelle, where that line rejoins the MTA’s New Haven Line.
The MTA is providing mutual-aid assistance for passengers traveling between New York and New Haven.
Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor alerts feed on X.com indicates that the problems were reported as early as 9:20 a.m. ET. At 9:50 a.m., Amtrak announced a suspension of service until further notice. After a series of train cancellations, and estimates that service would be restored at noon and at 3 p.m., the company ultimately scrapped efforts to restore service today.
The most recent notice includes an apology “for any inconvenience caused by the disruption” and says “our crews are working hard to correct the issue,” and that the company is contacting customers directly about rebooking.
Amtrak apparently didn’t have enough equipment between NHV-BOS to do turns there
Amtrak service alert about restored service states preliminary cause was a lightning strike.
Neither this aticle, nor an article I read in mainstream press (on-line) explains why Metro North was operating but Amtrak wasn’t. Nor has it been explained why Amtrak cancelled east of New Haven.
One hopes that further info will be given. Until we hear a comprehesive explanation we can only sit and wonder.
While it is not a true explanation, it does seem that the reference to the Hell Gate Line (Originally the New York Connecting Railroad) may be a viable answer. If it turns out that the issue was not on the Hell Gate line, Amtrak will look worse than it usually does!
And Metro-North service was still operating from GCT to New Haven.
There’s an easy subway connection ffom NY Penn to NY GCT. Takes maybe 1/2 hour.