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Subway Delays Hit Lines Across the City Ahead of Evening Rush

By  Aidan Gardiner and Radhika Marya | July 13, 2016 1:57pm | Updated on July 13, 2016 5:20pm

NEW YORK CITY — Commuters braced for a challenging ride home Wednesday evening as a perfect storm of "electrical issues," investigations and signal problems affected lines across the city.

Many subway lines faced "extensive delays" Wednesday afternoon after an "electrical issue" disrupted the MTA's rail control center, the MTA said.

As of 5 p.m., the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, C and E were listed as running with delays. Further information about the delays can be viewed on the MTA's website.

Problems started about 1:20 p.m. and forced the MTA to run the subway from its backup rail center as it investigated what happened, an MTA spokeswoman said.

The MTA said an investigation at Chambers Street was the cause of delays on the A and C lines around 4:20 p.m., according to its website. In addition, northbound C and E trains were running with delays by 4:59 p.m. due to signal problems at Canal Street.

The electrical issue also knocked out countdown clocks throughout the system, the MTA said.

The MTA's subway Twitter account called the problem a "power outage," but an MTA spokeswoman said neither the center nor any subway train lost power Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Uber announced it would be expanding its $5 uberPOOL zone in response to the subway disruptions until 10 p.m. Wednesday.

"We encourage riders to use uberPOOL to get more people in fewer cars, reduce the impact of higher fares caused by increased demand and limit congestion," Uber NYC's General Manager Josh Mohrer said in a statement.