Delays by Rowdy Riders Soar on Subways

Unruly riders on subway trains were among the top causes of train delays last December, new statistics from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority show.

A 45% increase in delays caused by customers who got into verbal or physical altercations on the trains brought December's total up to 313 incidents from an average of 195 per month in 2006.

"Accounting for the rise would take a sociologist," an MTA spokesman, Charles Seaton, said. Track work was the number one cause of delays, followed by signal trouble, guard light malfunctions, and sick passengers. Unruly riders ranked eighth.