LIRR, NJT trains delayed, diverted as fire in East River Tunnel sends smoke into Penn Station 1%
By Evan Simko-Bednarski0% Barry Williams0%
5/14/2026, 4:21:13 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 13 faulty reasoning types, including Unattributed Quote, Status Quo Bias, and Post Hoc (False Cause), with Appeal to Authority as the most egregious example at 27% saturation with 99 hits. Analysis detected 524 faulty-reasoning hits from 367 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 2.9% and a BS Rank of 1% (16,724 of 16,813 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 99.50% of the article peer group.
Long Island Rail Road service continued to be diverted from Penn Station to Grand Central Terminal Thursday — and NJ Transit service into and out of Manhattan was suspended — after a two-alarm fire in the East River Tunnel between Manhattan and Queens damaged a key junction connecting the tunnel to the station.
The electrical fire began a few hundred feet into tube No. 4 of the four-tube East River Tunnel, sources told The News, at a set of switch tracks that allow trains to access both tube No. 3 and tube No.
4.
Smoke conditions were reported on tracks 18, 19, 20 and 21 at the north end of Penn Station.
The fire, which began around 11 a.m., was out by 1 p.m., sources told the Daily News.
An FDNY spokesperson told The News that 26 units with 84 fire and EMS personal had been deployed to the scene.
No injuries were reported.
FDNY members respond to a fire in the East River Tunnel at Penn Station Thursday, May 14, 2026 in Manhattan, New York.
(Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
But as of Thursday afternoon, neither tube No. 3 nor tube No. 4 were yet operational.
Amtrak, which owns the tunnel, is currently rebuilding tube No. 2 — meaning only one track, located in tube No. 1 — remained in service.
MTA sources told The News Thursday that it was unlikely service would be restored in time for the evening rush hour.
LIRR service in Manhattan was expected to continue operating into and out of Grand Central Terminal only.
NJ Transit — which uses the East River Tunnel as a way to store trains from the morning rush hour in Queens’ Sunnyside Yard — was diverting all service to Hoboken Terminal on the other side of the Hudson River.
FDNY fire trucks are pictured outside Penn Station in Manhattan amid a two-alarm fire in the East River Tunnel between Manhattan and Queens on Thursday, May 14, 2026.
(Barry Williams / New York Daily News)
As of early Thursday afternoon, Amtrak passenger service through Penn Station had resumed with delays.
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