Another day, another evening of headaches at New York's Penn Station for New Jersey Transit riders.
The transit agency started reporting delays of around 30 minutes right at the peak of rush hour at 5:30 p.m. Thursday due to signal problems. Within 15 minutes, not a single train was scheduled to leave the station.
But it only got worse from there. Soon after, those delays were increased to an hour or more, with riders' irritation increasing as well.
"It's almost always there's a delay. It's sunny, there's a delay. It's windy, there's a delay. It's cloudy, there's a delay. It's raining, there's a delay. It's really frustrating," said rider Rhonda Powell.
This marks another time in recent weeks for commuters from NYC to New Jersey. In the past month, there have been riders stuck on trains for hours due to other technical problems — while those looking to go home were stuck waiting inside the crowded Penn Station lobby.
Earlier in February, a disabled train and power failures turned the transit hub into chaos, with train after train canceled.
The scene was no different Thursday evening, with commuters standing or sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in the packed waiting area, which grew warmer and warmer as frustrations boiled over.
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As the evening hours wore on, crowds began to thin out a bit as trains began running more regularly. Exasperated riders said on Facebook they were going to start a petition asking for the CEO of NJ Transit to step down.
