Why were NJ Transit trains delayed this morning?

It was a rough morning for NJ Transit commuters on the Northeast Corridor Wednesday morning, with half-hour delays in and out of Manhattan.

Wednesday morning's NJ Transit delays are displayed at New York Penn Station (Lori Melichar via Twitter @lorimelichar)

As the agency gets ready for public hearing about a proposed 9% fare increase and reduction in service, the morning started with 30 minute delays due to Amtrak work inside the Hudson River tunnel which meant only one track was available in-and-out of New York.

Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari says that late running overnight track work is to blame. "We had work to do," explained Magliari, noting that when there are only two tracks under the Hudson River there will be situations like this morning. He says that the project has been completed and will not interrupt Thursday morning's commute.

As that work was cleared up around 7:15 a.m., an NJ Transit train broke down in the tunnel that doubled delays to 60 minutes. "The timing of that disabled train was the worst. Just as the track work delays were getting less there's a breakdown that affected the rest of the morning," said New Jersey Fast Traffic's Bob Williams.

PATH cross-honored tickets at Newark Penn Station and Hoboken while NJ Transit's MidTown Direct was diverted to Hoboken to help commuters get into Manhattan.

Riders took to Twitter to vent their frustrations at the delay. "Let me off this STOPPED train so I can swim across the river. I'd get to work faster," tweeted @avantprojet.Another took a sarcastic tone. "@NJTRANSIT: getting you to work 40 minutes late since 1979," tweeted @TheJennaLauren.

Some took note of the pending fare increase. "If #njtransit wants to raise fares 9%, then they should also be forced to issue partial refunds when they run 30, 60 even 90 mins late!!," tweeted @neilshapiro. A frustrated @nlsgro tweeted, "After all this nonsense this morning NJ Transit trying to raise its prices is even more of a joke to me."

NJ Transit is proposing its first fare increase in five years Nine public hearings and one information session have been scheduled for May 16 to 21.