New York City Subway

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system that is in New York City, United States. It is one of the biggest rapid transit systems in the world, with 468 stations.^[1] It has 229 miles (or 369 km) of routes on 656 miles (or 1056 km) of track. The New York City Subway never closes; the trains are always working.^[2]

The first trains started working on October 9 1863 and the first underground trains started working on October 27 1904. The IRT main line, which is considered to be the first New York City "subway" line, opened in 1904; however, the Ninth Avenue Line, a predecessor elevated railroad line, operated its first trial run on July 3, 1868.^[3] and the West End Line railroad opened in 1863. A small portion of the latter line's original right-of-way is still in daily use near Coney Island.^[4]

Contents 1 Subway stations 2 Routes 3 Fares 4 Safety 5 References

[change] Subway stations

There are subway stations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx. About 40% of the tracks are above ground and the other 60% are below ground. Every day people take about 5,076,000 rides on the subway.^[1]

[change] Routes

There are many routes on the subway. Many people who have never ridden on the Subway get confused because there are so many routes going to so many different places. These are the routes of the Subway:

A Division (IRT) consists of: Route Line Broadway-Seventh Avenue Local Broadway-Seventh Avenue Express Broadway-Seventh Avenue Express Lexington Avenue Express Lexington Avenue Express Lexington Avenue Local/Express Flushing Local/Express 42nd Street Shuttle

B Division (BMT/IND) consists of: Route Line Route Line Eighth Avenue Express Nassau Street Local Sixth Avenue Express Broadway Express Eighth Avenue Local Broadway Express Sixth Avenue Express Broadway Local Eighth Avenue Local Franklin Avenue Shuttle Sixth Avenue Local Rockaway Park Shuttle Crosstown Local Sixth Avenue Local Nassau Street Express Broadway Local Canarsie Local Nassau Street Express

[change] Fares

Subway riders used to be able to pay for their ride with a token, but the subway stopped using tokens in 2003. Now riders must pay with one of these cards:

The subway started using MetroCards in 1994. Riders can buy MetroCards from the station booth or from vending machines that are in the stations.

SmartLink cards are another kind of card that riders can use to pay for rides on the subway. These cards will replace the MetroCards one day.

[change] Safety

Riders are allowed to take pictures using cameras, but are not allowed to take pictures with cameras that flash or with cameras that are on tripods.

Subway police can search riders to make sure they do not have weapons or other items that could be used to hurt other people.

When riders get hurt, usually it is because they slip when they are getting in the train. This is because there is a small gap between the train and the platform. In recent times, workers have made the gaps smaller to prevent people from slipping. Often messages are played inside the subway and on the train that say "Please watch the gap when entering and exiting the train".

[change] References