MTA: Misplaced transponder caused subway mess

NEW YORK -  

Subway riders traveling from Queens to Manhattan on Monday morning had to deal with a commuting nightmare.

Signal problems near Grand Central-42nd Street created major delays on the 7 line, according to MTA New York City Transit. And officials admitted that human error was the cause.

"A transponder in an area of weekend track work on the 7 line that is designed to confirm the precise locations of trains was re-installed in the wrong location after work concluded before the morning rush hour," Sally Librera, the senior VP of subways, said in a statement. "That caused trains to not connect properly to the transponder, resulting in slow speed operation as a safety precaution."

Librera said the mistake and the resulting delays were "completely unacceptable to our customers and to us."

The MTA said that a dozen subway lines had problems Monday morning in separate incidents.