A barge being towed by a tugboat struck the Susquehanna River Bridge in Maryland on Saturday, disrupting Amtrak service on the Northeast Corridor for approximately two hours. The collision occurred around 2:40 p.m. near Havre de Grace, affecting thousands of passengers traveling between Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York.
Quick Facts
- The barge struck the Susquehanna River Bridge on June 6, 2026, around 2:40 p.m. ET
- Amtrak reported delays of up to two hours while the bridge underwent a safety inspection
- The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed minimal damage to the timber framing around one bridge support pillar
- Service resumed by 5:00 p.m. ET and fully normalized by 8:00 p.m. Saturday evening
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the impact caused only minimal damage to the wood surrounding the bridge pier that was struck. No one aboard the tugboat was harmed, and the tugboat’s crew alerted authorities to the incident immediately.
Amtrak suspended all crossings across the bridge pending a structural integrity inspection. The Northeast Corridor, which carries more passenger traffic than any other rail line in the country, depends heavily on the Susquehanna River Bridge, a structure dating back more than a hundred years. At least one train headed to New York sat idled at Aberdeen, Maryland, just short of the river crossing, for close to two hours before being cleared to continue north.
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The 118-year-old bridge’s aging configuration has long constrained capacity on the Northeast Corridor. Work on a replacement span began in 2024 to address these infrastructure concerns.
Sources
- Quartz — Details on the barge strike, Coast Guard characterization of impact, and delay duration
- Trains.com — Specific timing of collision, bridge location, Amtrak inspection protocols, and service resumption timeline
