Service restored for evening commute after electrical issue causes massive NYC subway delays

Subway service was restored by the evening rush hour Wednesday after an electrical problem caused extensive delays during the afternoon..

For most commuters the delays were only temporary, except on the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 lines, according to the MTA.

Regular service resumed with residual delays an all lines by 5 p.m., in time for the evening commute.

The agency’s website blamed the slowdown on electrical isues at the MTA’s subway Rail Control Center.According to ABC7, trains were kept running, but had to be dispatched locally.

An MTA spokesman explained to the New York Daily News that when the outage occured, a back-up control center and local towers were activated, and to keep track of the trains, they had to run at slower speeds. Countdown clocks were also not functioning.

Straphangers, already frustrated with MTA service, were upset with the lack of communication about why there were delays, according to the Daily News.

“I’ve been here for half an hour and it looks like we’ll have to wait some more,” said Robert Felder, 54. “The service keeps getting worse, but the fare keeps going up.”