RobotRisk Autonomous Systems Incident & Risk Register
RobotRisk / MTA / NYCT / 2026-05

Subway signal system fault disrupts rush-hour service

S2 · 05/2026 · MTA / NYCT · New York, NY, USA

Record

CompanyMTA / NYCT
Categoryother
Typeoutage
Date05/2026
Time of daynot documented
LocationNew York, NY, USA · NYC Subway signal system
SeverityS2 (minor injury or single-unit damage)
Scale4 subway lines, partial segments, morning rush
Confidencemedium
VerificationCited source on file; not independently re-verified
SourceHoodline

What happened

The MTA attributed partial suspensions on the E, F, M and R lines during the May 20, 2026 morning rush to a technical problem with the subway signal system, with the R suspended between 57th St/7th Ave and 71st St and the M suspended between Essex St and Forest Hills-71st Ave.

MTA / NYCT record context

Entries by year and severity

012021 S3: 11212026 S2: 1126
S1S2S3S4S5

By incident type

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MTA / NYCT vs other alternatives

other context

other: entries by year

14282017 S1: 12017 S5: 12172019 S3: 11192021 S3: 11212022 S5: 11222023 S3: 12023 S4: 23232024 S1: 22024 S2: 42024 S3: 32024 S4: 72024 S5: 521242025 S1: 12025 S2: 72025 S3: 62025 S4: 82025 S5: 628252026 S1: 12026 S2: 92026 S3: 32026 S4: 22026 S5: 31826
S1S2S3S4S5

other: failure modes

other: most entries

outage context

outage: by category

outage: by year

outage: severity profile

Comparable outage events in other

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S22024-12-11TTC (Toronto Transit Commission)Automatic Train Control server outage shuts down entire Line 1
S32021-07-26MTA / NYCTQueens Boulevard Line signal system outage
S32019-02-28SFMTAAutomated Train Control System central computer failure halts subway communications
S12017-11PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson)Signal problem briefly suspends PATH service at 33rd Street

Other MTA / NYCT entries

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