A track fire in New York Penn Station forced a number of LIRR trains to either be canceled or be diverted to Grand Central Station through Thursday evening, the FDNY said. According to the fire department, a call was received after 11 a.m. reporting a fire. Dozens of firefighters responded to the scene and were able to extinguish the flames in about two hours, though the smell was noticeable for hours throughout Penn Station. While no injuries were reported, the fire had widespread impacts in regards to service throughout the evening. Amtrak, which owns the station and infrastructure at NY Penn Station, said it was an electrical fire inside the East River Tunnel that caused significant damage to the tube. Two train lines were impacted directly, but the fire ultimately knocked out all eastbound service entirely. Passengers looking to head back to Long Island were advised to use Grand Central instead, though trains were expected to be crowded as a result of the changes, leading to frustration for crowds of commuters. Most LIRR trains were being diverted to Grand Central. Only one train since 11 a.m. was able to head east from Penn Station, as all others were canceled or diverted. The 4:20 to Ronkonkoma ran, with customers asked to switch to all other destinations at Jamaica Station. It was not immediately clear when service into or out of Penn Station would resume for LIRR. The MTA said in a post on social media that service remained suspended as of 8 p.m., and that there “may be” delays, reroutes and cancellations come the morning commute as well. LIRR riders could also board at Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn. Subways were cross-honoring LIRR tickets on the following lines: 34 St-Penn Station‌‌, ‌‌Forest Hills-71 Av‌‌, ‌‌Kew Gardens-Union Tpke,‌‌ Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer on the E line ‌ Grand Central-42 St on the ‌‌4,5,6,7 lines ‌ Woodside-61 St‌ on the 7 line MTA subways were cross-honoring at 34 Street-Herald Square on the E line to Jamaica or the 2/3 lines to Atlantic Terminal. NJ Transit and Amtrak continue to operate out of Penn Station using different tunnels, albeit with delays and disruptions. Some passengers for NJ Transit received alerts from the agency’s mobile app advising them that using PATH may be a better option given the cancellations. The fire has also impacted Amtrak service. “Due to municipal services hold all traffic traveling southbound into New York (NYP) is temporarily stopped. We will provide updates as they become available,” Amtrak Northeast posted on X. For additional updates, visit MTA.com. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less