Explosion at electrical substation caused subway meltdown for thousands, MTA says

An explosion that blew a door off its hinges in an electric room that powers several New York City subway lines caused Wednesday night’s service meltdown for thousands of riders, highlighting the transit system’s aging infrastructure and modernization needs, according to MTA officials.

Riders were still experiencing a variety of lengthy delays across the subway during rush hour on Thursday morning, after a hellish commute during the Wednesday evening rush due to the power loss. That disruption left some 3,500 riders stuck in tunnels for hours, officials said.

“We had a 90-year-old electrical substation that had a fire and an explosion of some kind because the door was off the hinges,” MTA Chair Janno Lieber said at a news conference on Thursday morning. “That speaks to the urgency of making the investments to the very old pieces of our system.”

Lieber said the transit agency had already put the substation on a shortlist for necessary upgrades.

“Stuff starts to fall apart, we cannot let this happen to our system,” he said.

Gothamist obtained images from an MTA incident report that shows damage from the explosion at a Brooklyn electrical room. A mangled metal door and debris were found laying on a subway track.

The system’s struggles continued into Thursday. Affected train lines throughout the morning commute included the R, N and Q, the B, D and F, the A and C, the 1, 2 and 3, and the L, though some of the issues were resolving on a rolling basis.

A spokesperson for the MTA said the issues included some mechanical and signal troubles. At the Dekalb Avenue R station in Downtown Brooklyn, workers were earlier clearing debris from the tracks.

NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow said that Wednesday’s debacle was “very different” from the problems during the morning rush hour and that Thursday’s issues were “nowhere near what we had last night.”

Multiple Gothamist reporters spent much of their morning commutes stuck on subway trains. A train operator on the L said that due to signal issues throughout the system, the line was experiencing higher than normal ridership.

One R train was stuck on the Manhattan Bridge for nearly an hour, causing backups for trains behind it.

The MTA in January is set to send its next five-year construction plan to lawmakers in Albany, in hopes of securing at least $33 billion in funding. Much of the plan will focus on what the agency calls “state-of-good-repair” items, which would shore up the outdated facilities that power and repair the city’s subway cars, according to MTA officials.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement on Thursday that the delays commuters experienced on Wednesday night were “unacceptable” and that she had directed the MTA to review the incident with utility company Con Edison.

“No one deserves to be trapped underground for two hours, or face such significant delays when trying to commute home from work,” said Hochul, who as governor has control over the MTA.

When asked for comment, a spokesperson from Con Edison referred to Lieber’s comments on the electrical fiasco.

Commuters can check the MTA’s website and social media channels for the latest status on any delays.

This is a developing story and has been updated.