Metro delayed again? Can be caused by brake rank.

The collision between two subway trains that injured dozens of people in Manhattan last week started with what has become a routine problem on New York City’s public transportation system: pranksters pulling the emergency brakes.

All New York City subways are equipped with emergency brakes, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said, meaning most passengers can stop a train suddenly as long as they can reach and pull the mechanism — often a dangling cord or handle .

The number of vandalisms involving emergency braking has increased over the past five years. For every time the brakes are applied in response to a legitimate emergency, there are more than 50 instances where they are deployed unnecessarily, amounting to thousands of subway delays each year, according to data from the MTA, which monitors public transit in New York. York City manages. .

In 2023, the agency counted 1,748 unjustified emergency brake pulls, which rippled through the subway system and caused 7,365 delays. Only 30 uses were justified, the authority said. The number was down from 2022, but more than double 2019’s, even though passenger numbers have fallen due to the pandemic.

But last week, transit officials said, marked the first time in recent history that the daily annoyance contributed to a serious incident.

Although often misused, MTA officials say emergency braking remains an important safety feature common to most transportation systems in the United States. They can be drawn for valid reasons if a passenger collapses, if a passenger becomes trapped in a subway door or if a violent argument breaks out on the train.

But some experts said the MTA is using outdated technology and emergency braking should not be so accessible to passengers.

“This is a bit alarming,” said Katsuo Kurabayashi, chairman of the mechanical and aerospace engineering department at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering.

The Jan. 4 incident began when the No. 1 train came to a stop at 79th St. after vandals activated the emergency brakes, MTA officials said. Transit workers reset all brakes except one that remained stuck.

The train was taken out of service and continued to a storage yard, forcing the other No. 1 trains – which connect the west side of Manhattan to the Bronx – to be rerouted to parallel tracks. A slow-moving accident occurred near the 96th Street station when a train carrying approximately 300 passengers attempted to return to normal track and passed in front of the out-of-service train.

The prank became more than an act of vandalism, said Richard Davey, president of New York City Transit, the MTA division that oversees the subway. “There are consequences to what people might think are harmless or joking activities,” he said.

Emergency brakes usually work using compressed air. When a brake is activated, it releases air pressure, Mr Davey said. The braking mechanism that caused problems for transit crews on the out-of-service No. 1 train was damaged after the vandals activated it, he added. To get the train moving, workers disabled much of the braking system, disabling a fail-safe that could have prevented the collision, Davey said.

The collision injured 26 people, derailed both trains and disrupted service on some of the city’s busiest transit lines until service was fully restored more than 60 hours later. None of the injuries were serious. Mr Davey said the crash will cost at least tens of thousands of dollars in damage.

Another subway train derailed in Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon, less than a week after the previous derailments. There were no injuries. Officials said the incidents were unrelated, and they tried to reassure passengers that public transport was safe.

Federal law requires emergency braking to be available to passengers on commuter rail trains such as Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad. And most local transit agencies, although governed at the state level, have adopted this standard as a safety best practice.

“Historically and routinely, transit systems provide the riding public with the ability to activate the emergency braking system in the event of safety-related and medical incidents on board trains,” Mr Davey said.

Bryan Sooter, standards director for the American Public Transportation Association, a trade association, said most subway systems in the United States have emergency brakes similar to those in New York City. Mr. Sooter said transit officials must balance preventing misuse of emergency brakes with keeping them accessible in case of true emergencies.

“What can probably really help is trying to educate people and certainly bring attention to a situation like this where several people were injured,” Mr Sooter said.

The MTA is trying to crack down on emergency braking vandalism. During a radio interview on WNYC earlier this week, Janno Lieber, the chairman of the MTA, noted that surveillance cameras are being installed in every train car.

The authority has tried to discourage vandals by placing advertisements on train cars letting them know that pulling the emergency brake when not necessary is a crime potentially punishable by a $100 fine.

The technology used in New York’s emergency braking system was invented more than a century ago, said Mr. Kurabayashi, who noted that New York’s subways have primitive safety features compared to cities abroad. He said systems in some Asian cities can prevent the brakes from being applied when it is dangerous to do so, such as in a tunnel.

“I think people here really need to invest more in safety,” Mr. Kurabayashi said. “Otherwise we could have a very big tragedy in the future.”

Mark Walker reporting contributed.