Subway Disruption Caused By Faulty Wiring

A single light socket that was improperly wired is the fault for disrupting subway service on seven lines last week. That's right. The MTA failed to properly install a light socket in an electrical room, which led to a fire that disrupted service on seven subway lines, inconvenienced hundreds of thousands of commuters, and tied up traffic around the city for hours.

Does anyone still want the MTA to provide discounts for the holiday season? That $50 million that would have gone to reducing Metrocard fares from Thansgiving to New Years sounds like a good way to offset the costs of going around and inspecting every electrical room to make sure that the wiring is up to code and remediate any problems that they might come across.

You know, to make sure that the subways are safe and to fix problems before they become major disruptions.

The Gothamist also chimes in:

The light was located in a storage room on the mezzanine level of at West 4th; the FDNY recommends that wires be encased in a metal box or case. Oh, you think? Reuter said that crews would be inspecting wiring at subway stations across the system. You know, ever since January's Chambers Street fire, you'd think the MTA would have more, oh, pre-emptive fire prevention measures in place.