April 8, 2005 -- Not again!
That's what angry, frustrated subway riders were saying after spending another day scrambling to get around the city when a transformer fire crippled service on four lines and evoked fears of 9/11.
"Subway fires seem to be happening a lot," said Dora Lozano, a teacher from Manhattan. "It seems like an everyday thing."
Lozano, 40, also railed against the recent increase in weekly and monthly MetroCard prices, saying riders are paying more for spotty service.
"More money for less service," she said.
The Transit Authority said there was a 12 percent increase in subway delays last year compared to 2003.
Transit officials have attributed the rise to construction projects, stiffer flagging rules and more people holding doors.
Riders said they were sick of excuses.
The transformer fire yesterday zapped service on the A, B, C and D lines stretching from The Bronx to Brooklyn for nearly four hours.
Tanisha Brooks, 29, a cashier who lives in The Bronx, said she was trying to get to her job in Midtown, but had no choice but go back home.
"I decided to call my boss and tell him I'd see him [Friday]," she said. "I hope [it] will be a better day."
Adina Carnegie, 52, who lives in upper Manhattan, said she thought yesterday's transit meltdown was another terror attack.
"There was a lot of brown smoke," she said. "You couldn't see anything."
Carnegie said seeing the smoke reminded her of the World Trade Center attack.
"When I saw it, I thought it was a terrorist attack," she said.
John Gonzalez, 40, was waiting for a Bronx-bound B train at the 145th Street station when he saw smoke.
"It got pretty chaotic," he said.
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