January 29, 2018
Thom Carroll/PhillyVoice
A train pulls away from the Collingswood, N.J., PATCO train station.
PATCO shut down service completely for around two hours Monday morning because of a downed electrical pole. Commuters were, unsurprisingly, frustrated.
The train service shuttling passengers between South Jersey and Center City Philadelphia was suspended around 6 a.m., according to the transit agency's Twitter account. Riders were advised to seek alternate forms of transportation, with NJ Transit cross-honoring PATCO tickets.
Very limited service resumed before 9 a.m., with only a single train running between Camden and Center City, forcing anyone between the Lindenwold and Ferry stops to find another option.
PATCO said they would release more details on the incident that caused the suspension later on, adding that the rumor of a train fire is false. According to KYW, a train did strike a pole, causing downed wires and service problems. It's still unclear if service will resume completely for the evening rush.
More details will be released later on, but just wanted to clarify that there was no train fire.
— PATCO (@RidePATCO) January 29, 2018
PATCO train strikes electrical pole near Ferry Ave causing some downed wires and a South Jersey traffic headache this morning! Tune into @KYWNewsradio for more updates from @KimGlovas (Photos courtesy of Rich Angelino) pic.twitter.com/td1sMbaTMv
— KYW Traffic (@KYWTraffic) January 29, 2018
For those affected during morning rush hour, emotions ranged from angry, annoyed and in some cases happy to have an excuse to work from home.
Wow @RidePATCO being shut down is really killing me
— Eric stone (@stoneyyy24) January 29, 2018
PATCO is down this morning.... NOOOOOO!!! Let's see how long I can wait it out before I have to take a bus or something equally awful. 😫
— Carly Alessandro (@CarlyAlessandro) January 29, 2018
Sucks for all the people that really rely on PATCO to get to work. Would be a nightmare even if I had to drive to CC since my office doesn't give parking. Luckily I can just go home and telework.
— jeff (@jph_GSG) January 29, 2018
Patco is down you know what that means! pic.twitter.com/5duWX467Rn
— regular old plumbus (@mickus7) January 29, 2018
When you get to the patco station and you find out trains aren’t running and you have to drive in to center city pic.twitter.com/CS43L7ob8x
— brooke purnell (@brookemarie0595) January 29, 2018
Thanks patco! pic.twitter.com/nxNz6SlnFg
— Ro Mo (@robbymo007) January 29, 2018
A beautiful shot of the Philly Skyline this morning... Problems on the PATCO line is causing a much heavier AM Rush coming in from South Jersey pic.twitter.com/EoBqfZrue5
— Kevin Guest (@KevinEGuest) January 29, 2018
My Dad's reaction to the PATCO Shutdown this morning: pic.twitter.com/35u5j6tScK
— Audrey Johnson (@inthisourfilm) January 29, 2018
Rough way to start the week @RidePATCO but hope the workers clearing the pole stay safe! pic.twitter.com/dfx6V5nCmd
— phillyrunner (@phillyrunner) January 29, 2018
Working from home I guess pic.twitter.com/nYbxPIfb9P
— Joe Allen (@DBN_Joe) January 29, 2018
