More than 250 Amtrak passengers were stranded on the tracks for hours with no power or bathroom access after their train lost power and got stuck near Greenwich, according to the railroad.
Railroad officials said a mechanical problem stalled the train around 2:35 p.m. and left passengers with no bathroom or electrical services for nearly five hours.
According to the railroad, Train 173 on the Northeast Regional line was traveling from Boston to Penn Station in New York City when a mechanical problem halted the train between Greenwich and New Rochelle.
A rescue train arrived around 6 p.m., but that train became disabled too. About an hour later, Train 173 was towed back to Stamford, where passengers transferred to another train and continued on to New York City.
Train 175 was scheduled to arrive at Penn Station around 8:10 p.m., according to the Amtrak website.
One woman on board said the train traveled onto a part of the tracks with no electricity and stalled there. Another train was brought in to push it forward, but the effort was unsuccessful.
Passenger Jennifer Merin told the Associated Press it was a harrowing few hours "without air condition, without water and without toilets." She added that people were testy before the rescue train arrived in New York around 8:30 p.m.
Local
Train 173 departed Back Bay around 11:15 a.m. and was due to arrive in New York by 3:15 p.m., according to a schedule posted on the Amtrak website.
The train status was later modified and no longer includes an estimated arrival time. Instead, it reads, "Information Unavailable: Sorry, due to a service disruption, we are unable to provide estimated departure and arrival times."
No one has been injured. Railroad officials are investigating to determine the cause of the malfunction.
