NEW YORK (AP) - Transit officials in New York City say a straphanger on a subway train stalled in a tunnel during Tuesday’s morning rush hour jumped off the cars and walked on the tracks.
Signal problems that have plagued the system in recent months brought the F train to a stop for nearly half an hour outside Manhattan’s 34th Street station, near Macy’s. The glitch at about 6:30 a.m. spread through the system, causing major delays.
Kevin Ortiz, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said the agency received reports of one man jumping onto the tracks from the space between subway cars.
“I cannot stress enough how dangerous this is,” Ortiz said. “With a live third rail and the possibility of the train moving at any time, this individual could have been seriously injured or worse.”
In a statement, he added, “under no circumstances should customers leave a train unless instructed to do so by the train crew.”
The MTA is investigating the incident. It’s unclear who the man was or where he went.
The delays also affected the B, D and M lines, with some rerouted and others stopped for hours.
The stress of a crumbling subway system with more passengers than ever - 5.6 million weekly in 2016 - has caused the number of train delays to triple in the past five years, to 70,000 per month.
Earlier this month, riders were trapped on a sweltering F train for about 45 minutes, with no lights or ventilation.
And in April, a power outage backed up trains around the city and closed a key Manhattan station for 12 hours. Riders were stranded on packed platforms, some stuck in dark trains.
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