Busiest Train Line In The U.S. Goes Quiet Over Technical Difficulties

Ryan Erik King

January 12, 2024 at 1:00 PM·1 min read

Two Amtrak Acela Express locomotives waiting at Union Station in Washington DC

Train service on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor between New York City and Philadelphia was suspended for three hours due to a communications issue. The 457-mile-long route from Boston to Washington, D.C. is Amtrak’s most profitable route by a wide margin. The Northeast Corridor is used by the Acela, the federal-owned railroad’s marquee high-speed service, as well as, commuter trains operated by agencies like NJ Transit.

Amtrak first announced that service was suspended at 9:20 a.m. local time along the Northeast Corridor, nearly entirely in the state of New Jersey. Ten minutes later, NJ Transit followed suit and suspended services in and out of Penn Station in Manhattan. The Garden State’s public transportation system offered its customers an alternative route to the city through PATH rapid transit. Amtrak’s statement on suspension reads: