A rise in ill straphangers has contributed to an increase in train delays on the subway, transit sources told The Post.
So far this year, some 1,260 sick passengers have bogged down commutes citywide, a nearly 16 percent increase, with the 2 and 4 lines the most affected.
“There are always people throwing up or passing out. I see it more here than on any other train,” said 4-train rider Tarsha Jones, 39, who said she was once on a train with a man who had a heart attack.
“It took forever for them to get to him because the platform was packed,” she said.
The 4 train had the most delays — at almost 1,600 so far in 2015, compared with just more than 1,000 in the same period last year.
And 2-train riders experienced the most amount of time lost in delays to sick commuters, at 32 hours, a 12 percent jump from the year prior, the sources said.
The 125th Street and Lexington Avenue station had the most ill riders — nearly 40 to date this year, the sources said.
A station agent at 125th Street said an addiction-treatment center could be to blame.
“The thing we see the most of is people coming from the methadone clinics,” she said. “It’s like the walking dead up there.”
“They always just say it’s a medical emergency,” he said. “I see medical delays all the time on the train. It gets so hot while people are waiting, they can’t breathe.”
Transit sources speculated commuters might be victims of the system’s popularity.
“More hands and human beings mean more air being circulated around in a denser atmosphere,” one transit source offered.
A veteran station agent at Grand Central, who wished to remain anonymous, also blamed the record crowds.
“It’s packed, so if someone has anxiety, it can certainly be brought on,” the worker said. “We see homeless, asthmatics, diabetics, people who have forgotten their medication in general.”
Meanwhile, the G, B, J, and L lines — which service younger and hipper enclaves such as Greenpoint and Williamsburg — had fewer trains affected by sick customers than other lines, transit sources added.
“It seems like the lines with younger people are healthier,” one source quipped.
The MTA noted last week that the time and location of an ill rider matters significantly in how many delays there are.
A rider in poor health at 50th Street during rush hour on an E train last year delayed 72 trains, while only three trains were delayed by an ill rider on the C train at the 168th Street station.
“That is why we make every effort to continue to space out trains evenly during these incidents to avoid large gap in service and impact as few of our customers as possible,” MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said.
Harried commuters had little sympathy for their ill comrades, since conductors are required to hold trains until the situation clears up.
“The delays last for hours,” rider Grant explained. “And they close the train doors so you can’t leave and you’re trapped; you can’t even get out. ”