NEW YORK, United States - New York's best-known and busiest subway station, at Times Square, fell victim to spectacular flooding overnight Tuesday, caused by an ancient water main that burst after more than a century of service.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) released videos and photos on Tuesday of water cascading into the Times Square-42nd Street station in the heart of Manhattan at around 03:00 am (07:00 GMT).

During the course of the morning, 1.8 million gallons of water poured into the station, MTA said.

The flooding continued to disrupt service on some of the city's busiest tracks -- Lines 1, 2 and 3 -- at the peak of the morning commute.

MTA New York City Transit said the pipe that burst was a 20-inch main that was installed in 1896.

The ruptured pipeline also flooded Midtown streets with several inches of water.

Traffic was interrupted and the water supply to the area cut off while hundreds of MTA workers and engineers pumped and cleaned up.

All was back to normal by midday.

New York's subway system, which began in 1868 with above-ground trains and in 1904 with subterranean lines, is one of the most sprawling in the world, but its infrastructure is often in shambles in a megalopolis of more than 8.5 million inhabitants.

The system operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Times Square, with its neon billboards and signs, is a magnet for tourists, drawing millions of visitors every year.