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PATCO service returns to normal after replacement of defective rail

High Speed Line trains had to single-track between Camden's Ferry Avenue and Broadway stations while a defective rail was replaced.

A PATCO train at the Woodcrest Station en route to Philadelphia.
A PATCO train at the Woodcrest Station en route to Philadelphia.Read morePaul Nussbaum/Staff

PATCO High Speed Line trains have resumed normal operations after an inspection detected a defect in a rail in Camden and forced trains to single-track around the affected area for more than eight hours.

The commuter railroad announced it would run trains on an emergency schedule after bi-annual sonic testing detected weakness in a rail requiring its replacement.

Shortly after 2 p.m., PATCO announced the work had been completed and that trains would return to a normal schedule before the evening rush hour.

Morning rush hour trains, all operating as locals, ran every 10 minutes into the city and every 12 minutes into New Jersey while the single-tracking was in place.

But service was further disrupted when a medical emergency briefly took a train out of service. Passengers at Ferry Avenue complained that four trains that arrived at the station were too full to board and that riders were forced to endure long waits PATCO then turned around an eastbound train at Collingswood to pick up still-waiting westbound passengers down the line.