(06/22/06) TRENTON ? Amtrak officials went on the hot seat in Trenton Thursday as lawmakers hoped to find out the cause of recent power outages.

Of particular interest to lawmakers was the outage on May 25. Thousands of commuters were left stranded during that incident, including many passengers in tunnels. Amtrak officials say they still don?t know what caused the outage. However, they say the incident helped them learn about and improve upon certain aspects of passenger evacuation.

State Senator Richard Codey (D-NJ) says continued problems could force commuters away from the rails and back in their cars. According to Codey, this could create further congestion on New Jersey?s roadways. Amtrak representatives say their power substations will be staffed 24 hours a day as the investigation continues.

Related information: Amtrak service restored after power outage crippled commute