Chaos on Morning Commute Due to Subway Delays Caused by Extreme Heat, Outdated System
MTA teams investigated the outage and discovered a tripped breaker, which New York City Transit President, Demetrius Crichlow, said was linked to extreme weather and an aging signal system. It triggered widespread delays during the morning commute on July 29.
| 29 Jul 2025 | 05:52
Corporate New Yorkers headed to their jobs Tuesday morning, July 29, still shaken from Monday’s horrific Midtown shooting. But chaos returned, as a power outage at the West 4th Street subway station resulted in a domino effect of delays. The cause? Extreme heat and a single tripped breaker.
Bracing today’s severe heat advisory, commuters waited for their trains as a muffled voice on a loudspeaker announced the service disruption. First, the B/C trains were suspended in both directions, then the M trains between Delancey-Essex Streets and Forest Hills. The F trains were bypassing Manhattan and A/D trains were partially suspended.
New York City Transit President, Demetrius Crichlow, was at the scene at West 4th Street where MTA teams were investigating the outage.
“What we found when teams investigated is that the signals themselves were at Red, which would stop a train from proceeding,” Crichlow told Straus News. “So crews had to respond and they did two things. One set of crews went to investigate what caused the signals to be out, and the other set of crews is adamantly trying to find out how we get the trains to move.”
The crews investigating the cause of the outage discovered a tripped breaker, which is designed to interrupt electrical flow when there is circuit damage or hazards. Crichlow explained that the MTA system is impaired when the city faces extreme temperatures.
“Whether it’s extreme heat or extreme cold, it causes strain on our system. That, coupled with the fact that we have an aging infrastructure,” said Crichlow.
Some already took to Reddit to complain about the delays. “I was 50 minutes late for work and I’m still pissed. Not sure how I’m going to get home,” wrote user ruttabagarubbarb. And, “After 20 min they basically said to get off. Had to walk 8 blocks to the 6 at Spring to get to Grand Central. Sucked in this heat,” wrote user jejakqmqm.
In a report updated by the MTA today, the agency announced major service changes on the G line to modernize signals. Starting July 25, which was four days ago, G trains won’t run between Court Sq and Bedford-Nostrand Avs. According to the report, the train still relies on its original signal system from over 90 years ago.
In a recent Gothamist article, Jamie Torres-Springer, the President of MTA Construction & Development, explained that the modern signal system requires 5G technology, but currently the newest cars still only use 4G.
“It’s like having a cell phone from the year 2000. We all know that we can’t use that anymore,” Torres-Springer. “So we’re upgrading all of the technology over time, but we made sure that we’re getting it first on the G train.”
Crichlow also touched on the upgrade, ensuring that this is just one more reason why the agency is investing in necessary upgrades.
“Our capital program is set to invest millions of dollars into substations, which means picking up or improving upon the substations that we have out there, which will give us better, cleaner power, but also gives us better tools and management,” said Crichlow.
As of mid-day on July 29, service had been restored, but headways are extended so that the teams can continue to investigate the tripped breaker. Headways will return to normal in time for the P.M. rush. Ultimately, no injuries were reported, customers though inconvenienced by earlier disruptions were safe and onboard trains, no one tried to evacuate and there was air conditioning, Crichlow said.