NEW YORK (AP) -- Penn Station was evacuated on Monday and train service was halted after fires erupted in a transformer beneath the East River and on tracks near a terminal entrance, authorities said.
``Evening rush hour is going to be messy,'' predicted Amtrak spokesperson Marcie Golgoski.
Amtrak, the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey transit were affected.
The Fire Department said it responded to the transformer fire on tracks used by Amtrak in an East River tunnel at around 1 p.m.
Firefighters were also fighting a rubbish fire on train tracks near a Penn Station entrance at 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue, a Fire Department spokesman said. Five civilians were taken to a hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation from that blaze.
The cause of both fires were under investigation.
New Jersey Transit rerouted its Midtown Direct trains, which ordinarily go straight into Penn Station, to Hoboken, said spokesman Dan Stessel. New Jersey Transit's North Jersey Coast Line and Northeast Corridor trains were terminating at Secaucus and Newark. The PATH system was honoring NJ Transit tickets between New York and New Jersey.
About 60 people, many using cell phones, were left milling around in front of Penn Station, on Eight Avenue and 33rd Street.
Bob Campbell of Mesa, Ariz., was on a business trip for Data Center Systems, and had been trying to get a train to the airport.
``I guess I'll have to grab a cab or just find another way,'' Campbell said. ``I have a big meeting tomorrow that I just have to get to.''
Lori Smith of Amsterdam, N.Y., heading to Georgia to visit her sister, said: ``This is depressing. I took time off and now this is eating into my vacation.''
