Rail traffic affected by attacks in New York, D.C. :
Limited service resumed on Northeast Corridor by end of day
by Bill Stephens

In the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington Tuesday morning, Amtrak temporarily suspended operations on its Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington, D.C.

As a precaution and at Amtrak’s request, Amtrak trains were stopped and inspected by law enforcement officials, a Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman said. Amtrak officials could not be reached to confirm the extent of its service curtailment.

But the national passenger railroad apparently shut down trains outside the Northeast Corridor, as well. The Crescent, for example, was halted this morning at Greensboro, N.C., and its passengers put on buses to reach their final destinations, according to Norfolk Southern.

By late afternoon, Amtrak resumed limited Northeast Corridor service between Boston, New York, and Washington.

NS and CSX had halted all freight traffic in and out of Northern New Jersey. NS also shut down or severely limited service to Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and the Delmarva Peninsula. CSX shut down operations to Boston, the New York metro area, and Washington, D.C., said CSX spokesman Dan Murphy. The railroad also was taking steps to slow down its system.

NS, meanwhile, put its police force on alert and was assisting Virginia Railway Express, the Washington-area commuter line, with operating additional outbound trains this morning and afternoon, NS spokeswoman Susan Bland said.

But VRE said it was unable to operate trains out of Washington Union Station because all bridges and tunnels have been closed. It was unclear at first whether truncated train service would be available solely from Virginia points for commuters able to find a way out of Washington.

By late afternoon, VRE was able to resume train service on both lines, with trains to Fredericksburg departing Washington at 2 p.m., 4 p.m., and 6 p.m. One VRE trainset shuttled between Alexandria and Manassas, departing Alexandria at 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., and 7 p.m.

Washington’s Metro system remained open except for the Pentagon and National Airport stations. Metro shut down the Pentagon station just after the explosion at 9:45 a.m. It is unclear if the station was damaged, spokesman Ray Feldmann said. Outbound trains are being turned around at Arlington Cemetery on the Blue Line and at L’Enfant Plaza on the Yellow Line and Metro officials were scrambling to put together a “bus bridge” to ferry riders around the Pentagon station. Bus service at the Pentagon, one of the biggest transfer points in the region, was halted, Feldmann said.

Maryland commuter agency MARC suspended service until the evening rush hour. In early evening, MARC Penn Line and Camden Line trains between Washington and Baltimore began running. Brunswick Line trains resumed service to Brunswick, Md., with buses available at Brunswick to take passengers west to Martinsburg, W.Va. MTA’s light rail line to BWI Airport continued to operate.

In Philadelphia, SEPTA suspended service on R1, R2, R5, R6, R7, and R8 commuter rail routes that use portions of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. Bus routes serving communities on those lines remain in operation. SEPTA added additional cars to trains on its other regional rail lines and subway lines in anticipation of an early dismissal in the city of Philadelphia.

By 3:00 p.m., SEPTA had resumed scheduled rail service on all of its regional rail lines.

New Jersey Transit train service on the Raritan Valley Line, Northeast Corridor, and North Jersey Coast Line was suspended in both directions until 2:00 p.m., when limited service began. NJ Transit was utilizing all available rail equipment westbound out of Newark Penn Station, Newark Broad Street Station, and Hoboken Terminal, with added buses supplementing the rail service.

By the evening rush hour, NJ Transit trains were departing New York’s Penn Station on a “load and go” basis, for passengers on the Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast, and Morris and Essex Lines. Trains operated on added frequencies for passengers using the Hoboken Terminal as well. Inbound service to New York, Newark, and Hoboken on all NJ Transit rail lines remained suspended.

PATH service between New Jersey and New York, which runs underneath the World Trade Center, has been suspended. The New York City Transit Authority cancelled subway service in Manhattan, but later resumed operations on all but three lines serving Manhattan.

Metro-North service into New York City was initially suspended, although at 11:30 a.m., trains began carrying passengers out of Grand Central Terminal on a "load and go" basis. By 3:00 p.m., outbound train frequencies were changed to hourly. By early evening, Metro-North began operating inbound and outbound trains on Saturday schedules. New Haven Line trains between Mount Vernon, N.Y., and New Haven continued to operate throughout the day. Shore Line East service was replaced with alternate bus service.

Train service on the Long Island Rail Road into and out of Penn Station and Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn was initially suspended. Limited eastbound service was running from Hunterspoint Avenue in Queens on lines running east of Jamaica, and from Woodside, Queens on the Port Washington Branch. By mid-afternoon, the LIRR began providing limited service eastbound from Penn Station in Manhattan and Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn.

Boston’s MBTA subway, bus, and commuter trains are operating on schedule, with service provided free of charge for the rest of the day.

Chicago commuter agency Metra began running extra trains at 9:30 a.m. in and out of the city to accommodate workers in office buildings that were evacuated as a precaution. Scheduled operations resumed by mid-afternoon. However, with crews deployed on the extra trains, some evening rush-hour trains were annulled, included one each on the Heritage Corridor and North Central lines. South Shore fielded four extra midday trains out of Chicago, with scheduled operations resuming by afternoon, and one rush-hour train annulled.

GO Transit ran two extra midday trains on the Lakeshore Line for passengers leaving Toronto early. Metrolink ran extra morning trains from Los Angeles Union Station to San Bernardino, Oceanside, Lancaster, and Riverside. Sound Transit ran an extra midday train from Seattle.

As part of an effort to tighten security across its system, Union Pacific barred everyone but employees from entering UP facilities until further notice, spokesman Mike Furtney said.

A command post has been opened in the railroad’s Harriman Dispatching Center in Omaha, Neb., and security is being increased along UP main lines and at bridges, tunnels, and other infrastructure. Railroad police are also limiting access to employees only at centralized computer and communications centers, as well as office complexes around the system.

Access to terminal and yard facilities will be limited to employees and to only those non-employees necessary to pick up and deliver customer freight.

"We have a responsibility to keep our nation's vital rail-transport link open," said Dick Davidson, Union Pacific’s Chairman and CEO. "That means we will continue to do business in the safest, most responsible manner possible. We'll continue to accept freight and serve our customers at all Union Pacific facilities while we're enhancing security."

"We express our heartfelt sympathies to today's victims of terrorism and to their families and friends," Davidson said.

BNSF said that although there was no indication that railroads were being targeted in any terrorist attack, it put its police force on heightened alert, increased security at strategic locations and was in contact with authorities including the FBI, Federal Railroad Administration and local police. No BNSF facilities were closed, and normal freight operations were continuing, BNSF spokesman Pat Hiatte said.