Amtrak said Friday afternoon that it was canceling more trains on the East Coast over the weekend in anticipation of Hurricane Irene, including trains in the Northeast that had been spared in a previous round of cancellations.

Amtrak said that it was canceling service on Saturday from Washington to Boston; New York to Harrisburg, Pa.; New Haven, Conn., to Springfield, Mass.; New York City to Albany, N.Y.; Vermont to Washington; and Raleigh, N.C., to Charlotte, N.C. On Sunday, the day the hurricane is expected to make impact, Amtrak said it won’t run any trains in the Northeast at all.

Earlier this week, the agency said it was canceling trains south of Washington.

The Transportation Security Administration is seeking permission to offer voluntary buyouts to 3,000 of its employees, the agency confirmed to The Hill Friday.

TSA asked the Office of Personnel Management this week to authorize the early retirements as several federal agencies are looking to shed payroll to deal with expected budget cuts. 

"As part of TSA's ongoing efforts to ensure staffing efficiency, TSA requested a new authority to be able to continue to utilize early retirement as needed through 2013," the agency said in a statement provided to The Hill.

"By lowering the age and service requirements, and increasing the number of employees eligible for retirement, TSA will be able to efficiently manage its resources as the agency stays ahead of evolving threats," the statement continued.

Joining New York City in preemptively shutting down subway trains and buses in preparation for Hurricane Irene, officials in Philadelphia said Friday the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority would stop running Saturday night shortly after midnight.

The first major hurricane forecast to affect the United States in three years, Hurricane Irene is barreling down on most of the East Coast. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said SEPTA trains and buses would be suspended after 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning.

The storm, which could be a Category 1 storm by the time it reaches the Northeast, is expected to make landfall sometime on Sunday.

An Amtrak train from California to Chicago derailed near the Nebraska-Kansas border, the agency said Friday morning.

The train, number 6 on the California Zephyr route, was on it way to Chicago from Emeryville, Calif., in the San Francisco bay area when it made impact with a farm truck around 8:50 central time, Amtrak said. Two locomotives and three rail cars on the train went offtrack in the accident, but there were no life-threatening injuries, Amtrak said.

The train was carrying 178 people. Some of the passengers were transported to a local hospital.

As preparations continue along the East Coast for the arrival of Hurricane Irene, New York City officials said Friday they will shut down the city's entire public transportation system.

Meteorologists say Irene, the first major hurricane forecast to affect the East Coast of the United States in three years, could be a Category 1 storm by the time it reaches New York sometime on Sunday, carrying winds that could top 90 miles per hour.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority, which operates the New York subway, said this week that the system, one of the busiest public transportation systems in the world, could not operate with winds higher than 39 miles per hour.

With that in mind, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Friday the system would stop running Saturday at noon.

"Customers are advised to leave plenty of time for travel," the MTA said in a statement. "Don't take unnecessary chances and don't wait until the last minute to make sure that your family is safe and secure."

Your morning transportation speed-read:

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A Massachusetts man says he was questioned by the Transportation Security Administration because he was reading a book about old airplanes.

The New York tri-state region's Metro-North commuter railway is under fire.

Connecticut has a new transportation chief.

Members of the flight attendants' union will ask passengers to pressure lawmakers to pass an FAA funding bill.

With a wary eye on the hurricane forecast to make landfall in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast over the weekend, the national passenger rail service said Thursday it was canceling some of its trains south of Washington on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Amtrak said that trains 52 and 53 from Sanford, Fla., to Lorton, Va., and the portion of Sliver Star 91 and 92 from New York to Jacksonville, Fla., would be canceled. Additionally, trains 97 and 98 from New York to Miami and train 89 from New York to Savannah, Ga., would canceled.

Three additional trains, numbers 79 and 80 from New York to Charlotte, N.C., and train 90 from New York to Savannah will be canceled just on Saturday and Sunday, the agency said.

Officials at Los Angeles International Airport are investigating the collapse of an airplane gate during the deplaning of an American Airlines flight this week, according to reports.

The Los Angeles Times reported that as passengers on board American Airlines Flight 557 were getting off the plane, the jet bridge with which they were connected to the terminal gave way. There were 107 passengers on board the plane, the paper reported, but only the pilot and one passenger were injured.

“They were stepping on the platform closest to the jet bridge,” American Airlines spokeswoman Rhonda Rathje told the Times.