Power Surge Caused Massive MTA Service Disruption, Evacuations

Half of New York City’s subway lines lost service Sunday night following an “unprecedented” power surge and system breakdown, the governor said.

At about 8:25 p.m., Con Edison reported “losing a feeder,” or high-voltage cable, for a short period time, causing a voltage drop, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a [briefing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCM6xiZc5zs) Monday morning.

At about the same time, Hochul said, two power plants and generators went offline, causing a momentary outage which triggered a backup system.

When the system switched back to normal functioning at about 9:10 p.m., there was an “unprecedented surge” that knocked out the subway system’s signaling and communications abilities, the governor said.

All of the subway’s numbered lines, as well as the L train, lost service, impacting about 83 trains.

Five trains stopped between stations and all of them were evacuated. 

Passengers evacuated themselves from three of the trains and walked through the tunnels, causing major safety concerns, Hochul said.  

At about 1:30 a.m., power to the trains was restored after the FDNY made sure no one was on the tracks.

There were no reports of anyone injured.

Hochul said officials have not seen evidence that a maintenance hole fire in Long Island City near a power plant triggered the outage, but it’s being investigated.

Half of New York City’s subway lines lost service Sunday night following an “unprecedented” power surge and system breakdown, the governor said.

At about 8:25 p.m., Con Edison reported “losing a feeder,” or high-voltage cable, for a short period time, causing a voltage drop, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a [briefing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCM6xiZc5zs) Monday morning.

At about the same time, Hochul said, two power plants and generators went offline, causing a momentary outage which triggered a backup system.

When the system switched back to normal functioning at about 9:10 p.m., there was an “unprecedented surge” that knocked out the subway system’s signaling and communications abilities, the governor said.

All of the subway’s numbered lines, as well as the L train, lost service, impacting about 83 trains.

Five trains stopped between stations and all of them were evacuated. 

Passengers evacuated themselves from three of the trains and walked through the tunnels, causing major safety concerns, Hochul said.  

At about 1:30 a.m., power to the trains was restored after the FDNY made sure no one was on the tracks.

There were no reports of anyone injured.

Hochul said officials have not seen evidence that a maintenance hole fire in Long Island City near a power plant triggered the outage, but it’s being investigated.

Half of New York City’s subway lines lost service Sunday night following an “unprecedented” power surge and system breakdown, the governor said.

At about 8:25 p.m., Con Edison reported “losing a feeder,” or high-voltage cable, for a short period time, causing a voltage drop, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a [briefing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCM6xiZc5zs) Monday morning.

At about the same time, Hochul said, two power plants and generators went offline, causing a momentary outage which triggered a backup system.

When the system switched back to normal functioning at about 9:10 p.m., there was an “unprecedented surge” that knocked out the subway system’s signaling and communications abilities, the governor said.

All of the subway’s numbered lines, as well as the L train, lost service, impacting about 83 trains.

Five trains stopped between stations and all of them were evacuated. 

Passengers evacuated themselves from three of the trains and walked through the tunnels, causing major safety concerns, Hochul said.  

At about 1:30 a.m., power to the trains was restored after the FDNY made sure no one was on the tracks.

There were no reports of anyone injured.

Hochul said officials have not seen evidence that a maintenance hole fire in Long Island City near a power plant triggered the outage, but it’s being investigated.

Half of New York City’s subway lines lost service Sunday night following an “unprecedented” power surge and system breakdown, the governor said.

At about 8:25 p.m., Con Edison reported “losing a feeder,” or high-voltage cable, for a short period time, causing a voltage drop, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a [briefing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCM6xiZc5zs) Monday morning.

At about the same time, Hochul said, two power plants and generators went offline, causing a momentary outage which triggered a backup system.

When the system switched back to normal functioning at about 9:10 p.m., there was an “unprecedented surge” that knocked out the subway system’s signaling and communications abilities, the governor said.

All of the subway’s numbered lines, as well as the L train, lost service, impacting about 83 trains.

Five trains stopped between stations and all of them were evacuated. 

Passengers evacuated themselves from three of the trains and walked through the tunnels, causing major safety concerns, Hochul said.  

At about 1:30 a.m., power to the trains was restored after the FDNY made sure no one was on the tracks.

There were no reports of anyone injured.

Hochul said officials have not seen evidence that a maintenance hole fire in Long Island City near a power plant triggered the outage, but it’s being investigated.

Half of New York City’s subway lines lost service Sunday night following an “unprecedented” power surge and system breakdown, the governor said.

At about 8:25 p.m., Con Edison reported “losing a feeder,” or high-voltage cable, for a short period time, causing a voltage drop, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a [briefing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCM6xiZc5zs) Monday morning.

At about the same time, Hochul said, two power plants and generators went offline, causing a momentary outage which triggered a backup system.

When the system switched back to normal functioning at about 9:10 p.m., there was an “unprecedented surge” that knocked out the subway system’s signaling and communications abilities, the governor said.

All of the subway’s numbered lines, as well as the L train, lost service, impacting about 83 trains.

Five trains stopped between stations and all of them were evacuated. 

Passengers evacuated themselves from three of the trains and walked through the tunnels, causing major safety concerns, Hochul said.  

At about 1:30 a.m., power to the trains was restored after the FDNY made sure no one was on the tracks.

There were no reports of anyone injured.

Hochul said officials have not seen evidence that a maintenance hole fire in Long Island City near a power plant triggered the outage, but it’s being investigated.