New York City’s Transit Woes Worsen With Aging Subway Fleet

New York City’s aging subway cars are adding to headaches for commuters, resulting in a rise in major delays.

About one quarter of the city’s subway trains are at or beyond their 40-year useful life, according to a report that Thomas DiNapoli, the state’s comptroller, released Wednesday.

The system’s well-worn cars are the fastest rising cause of major incidents on the subway, which is when at least 50 trains are delayed, according to the report. Subway car failures resulting in such wide-spread delays nearly tripled in the first half of 2025 to 77 incidents, up from 27 during the ...