Fatal Amtrak Derailment Disrupts Rail Service Along Busy Northeast Corridor

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A deadly Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia is disrupting rail service along the busy Northeast Corridor, forcing many travelers to reroute.

With the wreckage on the track now part of the investigation, Amtrak service between New York and Philadelphia is suspended indefinitely. Trains will run between Washington and Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Philadelphia, and New York and Boston.

NJ TRANSIT will be crossing honoring Amtrak tickets between New York and Trenton. It is also offering bus service for passengers between Cherry Hill and Philadelphia.

"We're asking everybody to please be patient, our main goal is to get people to their destination safely and as quickly as possible," NJ TRANSIT spokeswoman Jennifer Nelson told CBS2.

LINKS: Amtrak | NJ TRANSIT

Travelers planning to travel Washington or Philadelphia only learned about the crash and lives lost once they arrived in Penn Station Wednesday morning, CBS2's Janelle Burrell reported.

"Oh my god, that's awful," traveler Ellie Dehoney said after hearing the news. "Well then this is nothing relative to that."

PHOTOS: Amtrak Train Derailment

Jason Gear, who was planning to travel to Baltimore for a businesses meeting, said he will reschedule.

"I'm just going to have to cancel my trip, it's a day trip," he said.

Colby Tyner was among the many Amtrak travelers now trying to find their way home after becoming stuck in Penn Station.

"I was on the train headed to D.C. and they held us up and they didn't give us any information so we started looking on social media and found out that there was an accident in Philadelphia," Tyner said. "We just got off the train and we're trying to figure out a way to get to D.C."

Some airlines quickly sold out and were considering adding more flights, while bus lines added more trips and honored Amtrak tickets.

Northeast Regional Train 188, which was carrying 238 passengers and five crew members, was due to arrive at Penn Station from Washington, D.C. at 10:34 p.m. Tuesday. It derailed shortly after 9 p.m., killing at least seven people and injured dozens more.

Some of the passengers who survived the crash were bused from Philadelphia to Penn Station, where they were closely guarded by security, Burrell reported. They arrived seemingly in shock and received help from waiting Red Cross team members.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.