Photo by Robert Josman at 96th street station of technicians manually resetting a switch so they could bring a train back into the station and allow people to disembark.
The main subway artery to the Upper West Side was shut down on Wednesday morning, starting around 9 a.m., with no trains running from 42nd street to 137th street in both directions (we’ve also heard from commuters that the outages run as far South as 34th street) Ken Biberaj tells us a southbound 1 train lost power. We’ve also heard there may be a track fire at Times Square.
UPDATE: MTA says 1, 2 and 3 trains running as of about 10:45 a.m. with delays.
The MTA gave the following announcement:
Due to signal problems, the following service changes are in effect:
There are no 
trains between 42 St-Times Square and 137 St-City College.
trains are running on the 
line between 149 St-Grand Concourse and Nevins St in both directions.
There are no 
trains between 137 St-City College and 42 St-Times Square in both directions.
Customers are advised to use 
and 
trains for service along Central Park West.
We hear that there were long lines for buses, and for A and C trains:
@westsiderag packed tunnel at TimeSquare to get to the A C E trains too pic.twitter.com/8PVskZcm12
— Ashley Welch (@Ashley_LizWelch) February 5, 2014
This web page and this twitter account should alert riders when service is restored.
Photo by bgblogging.
Thank you, West Side Rag! That is very helpful!
I was on the 1 train around 8:35-40 when we stopped abruptly as we were pulling into 66th st. A 2 train had also stopped abruptly right next to us. They quickly told us that there was a power outage and if anyone wanted to get off the train to move towards the front. Almost everyone exited and it was a madhouse to get out of the tunnel and find alternate transportation.
Allow me to echo Joan’s thanks for your reliable, timely and accurate updates on fast-breaking UWS news. The recent bank fire, pedestrian deaths and today’s subway problems are just three examples. The speed and detail of your reports often equals and sometimes even surpasses the mainstream media. Keep up the good work!
Thank you, Avi, for this reporting! Very helpful indeed.
Thanks for the support everyone. Hope you got where you were going safely. Avi