Recapping how the week went so wrong for NJ Transit commuters

Daily commuters saw no respite Friday morning as once again, Amtrak overhead wire issues forced the suspension of NJ Transit service in and out of New York Penn Station.

NJ Transit posted the alert at about 7:45 a.m., the morning after a brutal Thursday evening commute complicated by more overhead wire problems and a brush fire in Secaucus.

Amtrak posted: "As of 8:24 am ET, Due to a disabled commuter train in New York (NYP), All rail services will be delayed/modified between PHL & NYP. Resumption of service is estimated at 12:00 pm. Delays of at least 60 mins are expected. Updates to come."

Amtrak's Empire Service train was temporarily suspended between New York and Yonkers as crews removed a disabled commuter train, public relations manager W. Kyle Anderson told NorthJersey.com. The agency is working with NJ Transit to investigate the cause of the disruption.

Commuting Another summer of hell for riders? NJ Transit, Amtrak repair aging system

Rail service at Penn Station resumed around 10:30 a.m. Friday with delays of up to 45 minutes, NJ Transit announced on X, formerly Twitter. Rail tickets and passes are being cross-honored by NJ Transit buses and private carriers, along with PATH trains at Newark Penn, Hoboken and 33rd Street.

Week of commuting issues

The latest issues mark the fifth consecutive day of lengthy service delays on the transit system attributed to wire issues and disabled trains. Wire repair efforts were interrupted Thursday afternoon by a brush fire in Secaucus that caused further delays.

Making matters worse, the slowdowns coincided with the first heat wave of the year, forcing many commuters to deal with stiflingly hot temperatures amid the travel troubles.

In a statement Friday afternoon, NJ Transit President and CEO Kevin Corbett called the repeated issues "clearly unacceptable." The agency positioned supervisors at Newark Penn to inspect trains following recent incidents, and the train involved in Friday's disruption was "inspected thoroughly" before leaving the station and was not found to have any defects.

Corbett said Thursday's delay was caused by an Amtrak circuit breaker that affected power between the Philadelphia and New Haven stations. He added that NJ Transit will continue to assist Amtrak in resolving the issue.

"What we can say is that we operate approximately 700 trains every weekday along hundreds of miles of track on 11 rail lines with the same equipment," Corbett said, "and these incidents are mainly occurring on just this one stretch of track on the NEC (Northeast Corridor) between Newark and New York."

Residents took to social media to voice their frustrations with the repeated delays. One Reddit user posting about Friday's setback had to clarify, "this is not a repost... it's happening again this morning."

X users directed their anger in multiple directions, from Gov. Phil Murphy's perceived lack of response regarding the issues to NJ Transit officials who recently approved a fare increase set to take effect July 1. Others questioned the agency's ability to handle an influx of visitors in two years for the World Cup, especially as MetLife Stadium is set to host the Final.

"New Jersey is not ready to host the World Cup. Not even close," said Assemblyman Mike Inganamort, a Republican from New Jersey's 24th District. "Before we throw more money at NJ Transit we need a full and complete audit of the agency. Identify what’s wrong and then fix it."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ Transit trains faces week of issues at NY Penn Station