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MTA: Three Sick Passengers On Different Trains Screwed Up Total Of 34 Subway Trains
By
Jen Chung
Published May 10, 2016
Modified May 10, 2016
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Iyad Kheirbek
By
Jen Chung
Published May 10, 2016
Modified May 10, 2016
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Was yesterday morning's subway commute a little more than the usual "Case of the Mondays" for you? Well, the MTA has answers this time, and they're blaming your fellow, ailing New Yorkers for making you late for work/school/wherever.
In a Facebook post, MTA NYC Transit explained how passengers on an A train, an L train and a 2 train caused a cascade of delays—and begged anyone who feels sick not to get on the subway:
It’s Tuesday now, but the Monday morning blues were evident throughout the subway system yesterday as reports of sick customers snarled train service on five lines, delaying a total of 34 trains and thousands of harried customers.
The incidents all occurred during a span of a little over an hour, the effects of which stretched from Howard Beach to the South Bronx. At 7:16 a.m. a sick customer was reported aboard a Brooklyn-bound A Train at Aqueduct. That incident was cleared at 7:40, delaying a total of nine trains coming out of the Rockaways. A second sick customer was reported on an L train headed for Eighth Ave. at the Third Ave. Station. That train was held for ten minutes beginning at 8:41. During the incident, one Manhattan-bound service train was turned at Bedford Avenue.
From 8:17 a.m. until 8:22 a.m., a sick customer aboard a Manhattan-bound 2 Train forced delays on 22 trains. Emergency Medical Services also had to respond to sick customers at Grand Central-42 Street and 14 Street.
For A Train customers, this morning started on a similar note as service from the Rockaways was delayed again as Emergency Medical Service personnel were called to respond to a sick customer (unconscious male) at Aqueduct at 7:18 a.m. This incident resulted in 27 late trains.
Anyone who was affected yesterday, or at any time can take advantage of the Delay Verification page http://enterprise.mtanyct.info/DelayVerify/ the website and to help you know before you go, sign up for email/text alerts.
Of course, if you feel ill, do not board the train. Request medical assistance from an MTA employee or a NYPD Officer.
After speaking to a subway rider who was skeptical about the "sick passenger" delay excuse, the Times explained last November, "Workers are instructed not to move riders who cannot walk off the train on their own and to wait for emergency medical workers to assess the patient. If the passenger can step off the train, someone else — a friend, a worker or a police officer — must stay until help arrives. Otherwise, the conductor must stay with the rider, and the train may have to be pulled out of service."
The MTA also used an 8-bit animation to illustrate how a delay involving a sick passenger can create commuting headaches last year:
So the lesson is... always go to the bathroom before you board a train—you don't know how long it'll take.
Tagged
MTA
nyc transit
sick passenger
subway
subway delays
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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