Full Amtrak service was restored Sunday morning after hours of disruption at the start of New Year's Eve, but the railroad operator said that "residual delays should be expected."
Service Restored on Northeast Corridor https://t.co/x5fol3g1Wg pic.twitter.com/qIi7gdEh0o
— Amtrak Northeast (@AmtrakNECAlerts) December 31, 2023
Amtrak trains on the Northeast Corridor, which stop at various cities such as New York City, Washington, Boston and Albany, were impacted by server problems Sunday morning. Commuters faced cancellations and long delays.
"The longer you wait, the more it kind of affects your mood. You were excited to go to your destination but now you have to wait out in the train station. It is not fun," commuter Victoria Lerma told NY1 at Penn Station Sunday morning.
Lerma said that her train from Manhattan to Schenectady was severely delayed.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Sunday morning that it did not experience any severe delays as a result of the Amtrak issues.
However, NJ Transit suspended Northeast Corridor rail service between Trenton and New York Penn Station for multiple hours Sunday morning. Midtown Direct rail service was diverted to Hoboken during the suspension.
NJ Transit trains are "operating on or close to schedule with residual delays," according to the transit agency.
Rail service into and out of Penn Station New York is operating on or close to schedule with residual delays to trains already enroute following an earlier Amtrak signal issue.
— NJ TRANSIT (@NJTRANSIT) December 31, 2023
The disruption Sunday morning came as hundreds of thousands of people descend upon Times Square for New Year's Eve to watch the ball drop. Thousands of people take public transportation to get to Manhattan.
There were also Amtrak and NJ Transit delays in and out of Penn Station Saturday night into Sunday morning due to Amtrak signal issues in the area, the agencies said.
Service resumed in a few hours with some residual delays before the Amtrak server issues halted trains once again later Sunday morning.
The Long Island Rail Road also experienced some delays Saturday night. There was no LIRR service in and out of Penn Station or Grand Central for about an hour around 10 p.m. because of signal trouble west of Woodside.