Service restored on 2 PATH lines after suspensions

HOBOKEN (WABC) -- The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says PATH trains are running again between Hoboken, Jersey City and New York after a Sunday fire led to suspensions on Monday and Tuesday.

Service resumed around 5 a.m. Wednesday on the Journal Square-33rd Street and Hoboken-33rd Street lines.

Commuters who rely on PATH were waiting all morning long to get the word that trains were up and running, and were very happy to be back on their regular morning commute.

Service had been suspended on and off since Sunday.

New Jersey Transit had been cross-honoring, providing buses into Manhattan.

On Wednesday morning, some commuters opted to take the bus anyway since they missed the first train. PATH caters to 65,000 riders a day, and those riders were in much better moods than Tuesday.

"It's been a nightmare, truly a nightmare. I go all the way to Columbia so it's really been a struggle to get there," said one commuter.

('What was your reaction this morning, did you get a PATH alert?', we asked.) "Yeah, I get the PATH alerts through my phone, so I had like 15 overnight telling me that it was still down, but then I woke up at 5 this morning and hopefully it'll be working," she said.

"I work in Brooklyn and live here, so it was actually a nightmare to get on the PATH," said another commuter, Cait Hogan. "I had to take two trains to the World Trade."

('How relieved are you this morning to know they're up and running?') "I woke up extra early to check and it was such a great feeling to know that they were on and I didn't have to worry about getting to work this morning," she said.

New Jersey Transit cross-honored on the first bus Wednesday morning because people missed the train.

The trouble began Sunday, when a track fire in a tunnel under Chelsea forced an emergency shutdown of service linking 33rd Street with both Hoboken and Journal Square.

And while service was back by midday Monday, a problem with repairs meant another indefinite shutdown.

At 33rd Street Tuesday afternoon, some commuters arrived to find the station locked up tight.

"You come to the PATH train station and see the doors locked and no report, it's like doors locked, PATH station is closed," one frustrated rider said. "No information. That's it."

Officials say a large section of underground cable needed to be replaced, and they do not expect further delays associated with this issue.