(Bloomberg) -- Anyone have a large can of WD-40?
The 118-year-old bridge that hosts about 450 trains a day between New Jersey and New York jammed open Thursday morning, causing a two-hour suspension of traffic in and out of the country's busiest rail depot.
The decrepit span over the Hackensack River often delays NJ Transit and Amtrak Northeast Corridor traffic when it swings open for boats. On several occasions, the bridge has gotten stuck. Plans to replace it with a fixed bridge with higher clearance are part of Amtrak's Gateway tunnel project, which lacks federal funding. Trains are restricted to 60 miles per hour over the bridge; a new one would permit faster speeds and eliminate a main source of commuter angst.
Amtrak said on Twitter that the bridge got stuck due to a problem with a signal.
New Jersey Transit diverted Midtown Direct trains to Hoboken, where riders could switch to PATH trains. Buses are honoring rail tickets.
Service resumed about 1 p.m. New York time, with NJ Transit warning commuters of delays of up to an hour. PATH trains were still accepting NJ Transit rail tickets.
To contact the reporter on this story: Stacie Sherman in Trenton at sbabula@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Shepard at mshepard7@bloomberg.net, Stephen Merelman
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