5 injured in derailment at Penn Station Kevin McCoy

At least five people suffered non-life-threatening injuries Monday when a New Jersey Transit train derailed in New York City’s Penn Station near the end of the morning rush hour, authorities said.

The slow-speed derailment marked the second such incident within little more than two weeks at the rail station on Manhattan’s West Side, one of the nation’s most heavily traveled mass transit hubs.

The derailment, which occurred around 9 a.m., injured five rail passengers on the northbound NJ Transit train, the Fire Department of New York said. Some of the injured passengers were taken to Bellevue Medical Center for evaluation and treatment, the agency said.

The injured riders were among approximately 1,200 passengers aboard NJ Transit’s 7:31 a.m. Northeast Corridor train No. 3926 traveling from Trenton, N.J., to Manhattan, said Nancy Snyder, a spokeswoman for the commuter rail line.

Commuter Tiffany Maxine said the train jolted, and she felt the car in which she was riding shift beneath her as a result of the incident, the Associ- ated Press reported.

The derailment occurred as the train eased through its arrival on Penn Station’s track 9. Train personnel safely escorted all of the passengers to exits in the rear of the train and onto rail platforms, Snyder said.

All NJ Transit service into and out of Penn Station was suspended shortly after the incident, the commuter rail line’s Twitter feed reported.

However, NJ Transit train service to New Jersey stations in Newark and Secaucus remained in operation, Snyder said. Midtown Direct line trains from western New Jersey were ending their routes at the Hoboken, N.J., station, where large crowds of commuters tried to reach PATH train service into Manhattan.

Monday’s derailment gave Penn Station commuters an unwelcome jolt of deja vu.

An Amtrak Acela Express train experienced a minor derailment while departing Penn Station at slow speed on March 24. All 248 passengers aboard that train exited safely onto the platform and into the station.

MARK LENNIHAN, AP Passengers check a schedule board Monday while waiting in New York’s Penn Station. A New Jersey Transit train derailed while pulling into the station at slow speed.