Signal woes racked a.m. rush every day but 1

There was one glorious weekday last month when the subway actually had a morning rush hour free of signal malfunctions.

It was Thursday, Aug. 23, according to Riders Alliance, a transit advocacy group that crunched numbers on rushhour delay alerts for the month.

But for the rest of the month, rush-hour riders were not so lucky: They endured a total of 118 instances of signal problems between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. on weekdays, as well as 70 incidents in which train cars malfunctioned, according to the Riders Alliance data.

Signal malfunctions made up 62% of commute-crippling incidents in August, the report said.

The worst day of the month was Wednesday, Aug. 14, when commuters suffered through 15 signal malfunctions and 13 broken-down car incidents.

“That’s a blinking red light that it’s past time to modernize our subway system,” Riders Alliance director John Raskin said in a statement. “Every one of those signal malfunctions throws thousands of people’s daily lives into chaos.”

Replacing the signal system with modern technology is a central part of NYC Transit President Andy Byford’s Fast Forward plan, a 10-year objective to modernize mass transit that could cost more than $30 billion. Byford and transit officials are seeking a financing plan to cover the cost.

The success of the new signal technology — known as Communications-based Train Control — can be seen on the L train, which is the only line in the system that has the new signals.

There were zero signal malfunctions on the L line during rush hours in August, according to the Riders Alliance.

The worst lines for signal malfunctions last month were the D and R lines, which suffered through 11 each.