TRANSPORTATION
Amtrak temporarily suspends Northeast Corridor service days before holiday

PUBLISHED SUN, DEC 22 2024 • 2:34 PM EST
Laya Neelakandan

KEY POINTS
• Amtrak trains between New York and Philadelphia were temporarily suspended for hours Sunday morning due to downed overhead wires blocking the tracks.
• The delays and cancellations come just days before the Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa holidays on Amtrak’s busiest train route.

Amtrak temporarily suspended all train service between New York and Philadelphia Sunday morning due to downed overhead power wires that were blocking the tracks.

The delays and cancellations come at one of the busiest travel periods of the year, just days before the Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa holidays and as the region faces freezing temperatures.

The travel suspension first occurred around 7 a.m. ET, with estimates of resumption only around noon. As of 1:30 p.m., Amtrak said they had restored two of the four tracks for service through the impacted route, with trains running at reduced speeds and delays averaging an hour.

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Some Amtrak, NJ Transit service on Northeast Corridor restored (second update)

By Trains Staff | December 22, 2024

Downed overhead wires near Philadelphia lead to disruption


An Amtrak train passes through Princeton Junction, N.J. on the Northeast Corridor. Corridor service between Philadelphia and New York has been suspended by downed power lines. David Lassen

NEW YORK — Delays continue as Amtrak continues to restore operations between Philadelphia and New York after a suspension for much of the morning because of downed overhead power wires today (Dec. 22, 2024) near Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station.

Amtrak’s latest update, as of 1:30 p.m. ET, says two of the four tracks in the area have now been restored, after the first was reopened about 12:20 p.m. ET. Trains are operating through the area at reduced speed, and delays of 30 to 60 minutes should be expected.

NJ Transit’s website says its Atlantic City Line operations remain suspended between Cherry Hill, N.J., and Philadelphia. … According to WCAU-TV, the issue was first reported by NJ Transit about 3:30 a.m. An Amtrak advisory at 5 a.m. ET estimated service would be restored at 10 a.m.; that was pushed back to noon before the current single-track operation was established.

The issue is impaction operations from Boston to Washington, Amtrak says. Its NEC Alerts feed on X.com indicates that because of resulting equipment-availability issues, three Acela trips been cancelled between Boston and Washington, while another has been scrubbed between Washington and New York.

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