NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Amtrak service between New York Penn Station and New Haven remains suspended Wednesday after multiple fires broke out near train tracks in the Bronx a day prior.
The transit company said in the morning that service was expected to resume by 2 p.m. Wednesday as crews assess and repair damage to the tracks, but the deadline came and went.
“Unfortunately, at this time the tracks are still closed,” Amtrak officials said in a statement. “We do not have an estimated time for tracks to reopen.”
The FDNY responded to two separate fires near the tracks in the Morris Park section of the Bronx, just a quarter mile apart on Tuesday. The first fire, at 2:16 p.m., was a transformer fire at the Parts Authority Auto Parts warehouse on Bronxdale Avenue, a 60,000-square-foot building used for the storage of auto parts, hydraulic equipment, pallets, and vehicles.
Workers reported hearing what “sounded like a bomb” when the transformer exploded, according to FDNY Chief of Operations Kevin Woods. The fire spread quickly, engulfing three cars in flames, and the building was evacuated.
Minutes later, just after 2:30 p.m., a second fire broke out at an Amtrak substation nearby, prompting the transit company to shut down power to its lines. “What took us quite a while to extinguish that fire, we had to have all train traffic stopped, we had to have the overhead catenary wires power removed from them, we needed power also removed from the transformer,” Woods said. “Then you have residual electricity that has to be grounded as well.”
The FDNY deployed 198 firefighters to the scene to battle the fires, which occurred amid ongoing drought conditions in the Northeast. Woods noted that brush fires may have been a factor.
“We’re not sure if this was—if brush fires was the cause,” he said. “But brush fires, right now it’s extremely dry, as you know, we haven’t had rain for quite a while. And there’s been more brush fires in the past eleven days than we’ve had in any previous month in two years.”
An Amtrak spokesperson confirmed that the track suspensions were due to a brush fire in the area. “There is currently a brush fire in the area that has caused all services between New York Penn Station (NYP) and New Haven (NHV) to be suspended for the remainder of the day,” said senior public relations manager Jason Abrams.
There were no injuries reported in any of the incidents.
Investigations are ongoing to determine the causes of the fires and whether they are connected.
Metro-North is cross-honoring tickets from Grand Central Station only, customers traveling between New York and New Haven are encouraged to use it.
Disruptions are extended across more of the Northeast corridor due to power lines being down, Amtrak said, halting trains between Philadelphia and Wilmington and Delaware.
“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience as we work through this unexpected situation,” Amtrak spokesperson Jason Abrams said.. He explained that trains between Philadelphia and Wilmington were stopped due to overhead wires blocking the tracks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.