Yes Nancy, it was traumatic. The train ride home normally takes 50 minutes from Manhattan to the last stop which is mine. I can't say for sure but I believe from the time I boarded until I disembarked was closer to 3 hours. The person with the only communication available was no longer on the train or silent so there was no further news and those who continued were left with only news of the initial attacks elsewhere and not knowing if there was even more happening.
My son-in-law and his sister both worked in the WTC. He had appointments elsewhere that day but his sister had gone into work and wasn't heard from until much later in the day. Fortunately, she had arrived late and wasn't in the building. His whole office and everyone in it had been lost. Between the two, he had a breakdown. Another friend's brother is a fireman and he was in the street nearby when one of the buildings collapsed. His helmet was seen on TV lying in the street and identified by his family as his by its markings. He had been knocked down but someone had pulled him into a storefront so he survived. Another friend lost both a brother and a sister. Almost everyone I know told of someone close who had been lost or had a connection of some sort. For days afterward, hope was held out that there would be some survivors found. St. Vincent's hospital in Greenwich Village was set up with emergency teams to treat them, no one came.