It's never one train or line. In July there were 70,000 train delays in NYC. When a line goes down, every train line that crosses or follows on those tracks cannot get through. When Penn Station goes down, it's felt to the most eastern parts of Long Island, up to Connecticut, and down to New Jersey. Last Thursday in Rome there was a four hour strike. Big deal, compared to traveling in NYC. Unlike the USA, in Italy the drivers strike and have coffee, then start up again. In the USA it is derailments, fires, and other disasters from an aging, broken down system that keeps breaking down.

Just go into Penn Station or the subway in Times Square. It's like La Guardia airport. To call it third world is an insult to the third world. Go to the subway in Naples, or Torino, and the difference between modern transportation and transportation in the USA will leave you stunned. You just need to read the headlines. Every day the trains are broken because they derail, they go on spontaneous fire, the overhead wires collapse and fall on them. Once a month or so there is a strike in Italy, and even during the strike, there are periods of time where the trains run normally. In NYC, you cannot count on the trains.
http://www.nydailynews.com/newswires...icle-1.3338044
http://www.nydailynews.com/newswires...icle-1.3345581
http://www.nydailynews.com/newswires...icle-1.3337066
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.3336638
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...icle-1.3335142
http://www.nydailynews.com/newswires...icle-1.3332638
http://www.nydailynews.com/newswires...icle-1.3329104