Explosive Devices Found at Elizabeth Station Delaying Amtrak, NJ Transit
Some Amtrak service will change Monday while police in New Jersey investigate a suspicious device found near a train station.
Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage said it was one of five separate devices inside the bag, which was sitting inside a garbage can next to a trestle near the station. As the robot was “cutting wires” on the first device, it went off, startling everyone at the scene.
In a statement, Amtrak said train service had been suspended Sunday evening and that passengers should be prepared for the “possibility of additional cancellations and delays throughout the day Monday”.
As authorities reassessed how to handle the other four devices, NJ Transit service on the lines remains closed.
NJ Transit said that PATH, ferry services, NJT and private carrier buses are cross-honoring rail tickets and passes. The devices were in the process of being made safe when they exploded, according to sources who say they appeared to have been similar to the devices discovered in Seaside on Saturday.
The backpack was found about 500 feet from a train bridge, and rail line service was disrupted overnight due to police activity. However, the 23rd Street and 28th Street subway stations near the bombing were both open on Monday, according to New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Passengers on trains at the time were allowed to disembark and seek alternative transportation at the closest stations at the time of the stoppage. They are being questioned at an Federal Bureau of Investigation office in Manhattan.
The discovery of the devices in Elizabeth came after an explosion shook New York’s Chelsea neighborhood on Saturday, injuring 29 people. For most of the day, NJ Transit reported 30-minute delays as late as of 3:04 p.m. NJ Transit was still canceling Trenton bound trains on the NEC as late as 3:30 p.m.