Penn Station Train Crash

Worse than the rush of commuters and travellers, scrambling after their train's platform has been announced, an Amtrak train rear-ended an LIRR train yesterday morning, injuring hundreds and creating a terrible tableau of scared and hurt passengers at Penn Station. Triage units were set up all over Penn Station, mostly for bumps and bruises, with most injuries being to the nerve - as many wondered if it had been a bomb - and trains were delayed for hours. The Times reports that some train passengers reassured others that it could not be a bomb since everyone fell in the same direction. NY1 says that the investigation has begun into why the trains collided. With the Republican Convention a few months away right next door at Madison Square Garden, Gothamist imagines that the kind of immediate NYPD and EMS attention to the scene is a reflection of the police's stepped-up efforts. The Times also mentions one Penn Station visitor from out of town calling his wife: "I called my wife on the phone when it happened. She was like, 'Welcome to New York.'"