The NYC Subway: An Essential Guide to the Lifeline Of Our City.
- Timothy Lai and Gabriel Nuxoll
- 22 hours ago
- 6 min read
Nowadays, you may know the subway as the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority). However, there's so much more to uncover. What’s the difference between the red 1 train and the blue A train? Why are some subway trains so different from another? What does the future hold for the system? Well, in this article, you’ll find the answers to these questions and others you might be wondering about!
Early Beginnings
On October 27th, 1904, the IRT opened the first subway in New York City. It ran from 145th Street (1 Train today) to Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall (Abandoned today, 6 trains use the loop for turnaround). It was inspired by the London Underground, which was the first electrified subway. The BMT (originally called the BRT, Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company) opened its first line on July 2, 1878 being the Brighton Line (Now a segment of the B & Q trains in Brooklyn). The IND opened its first line on September 10th, 1932 being the Eighth Avenue Line (The A, C, and E trains today in Manhattan). Eventually in June 1940, The IRT and BMT were merged with the IND and in 1953, the unified systems made the NYCT (New York City Transit). On June 1, 1965, the MTA was formed after the NYCTA. During the 1970s and 80s, the MTA went through many financial troubles and went through many different other problems. In 1972, the MTA reassigned all routes by different colors, though all routes were given different colors and in 1979, all routes were given their colors based on their trunk lines (Ex. 7th Ave Lines: 1, 2, and 3 lines are red, Lexington Ave Lines: 4, 5, and 6 lines are green, etc.). During the 1990s, the MTA revitalized its services, renovated old train models to make them newer and not in poor condition.
What Does It Mean?
The New York City Subway is full of letters and colors and numbers that seem random, like the blue A train and the purple 7 train.. But, it actually has a meaning. So, each color represents a “trunk line” that certain trains share. The numbers represent the IRT subway lines, and the letters represent the IND and BMT lines.
The 1, 2, and 3 trains are colored red for the Broadway-7th Avenue Line. The 1 train runs local, while the 2 and 3 run express in Manhattan.
The 4, 5, and 6 trains are colored green for the Lexington Avenue Lines. The 6 train also has a diamond icon for rush-hour express trains in the Bronx. The 4 and 5 trains run express in Manhattan, while the 6 train stays local.
During rush hours, the 5 train terminates at Nereid Ave while running express through The Bronx on the White Plains Road alignment (2 & 5 lines in The Bronx)
The 7 train are colored magenta for the Flushing Line, but it also has a diamond icon for rush-hour express trains, which run express in Queens.
The A, C, and E are colored dark blue and represent the 8th Avenue Line. The A and C run express in Manhattan, while the E stays local in Manhattan and express in Queens.
The B, D, F, and M trains are colored orange and represent the 6th Avenue Line. The B and D run express and the F and M run local in Manhattan.
During rush hours in The Bronx, B trains run to Bedford Park Blvd.
The G Train is colored lime green to represent the Crosstown Line.
The J and Z trains represent the Nassau Avenue Lines. They both have varied skip-stop services and oftentimes, some stations are not served by a train at all!
The L train represents the Canarsie Avenue Line, colored light gray
The N, Q, R, and W trains represent the Broadway Avenue Line, colored dark yellow. The N and Q run express in Manhattan while R and W run local.
The Staten Island Railway runs on its own line unconnected with the other lines.
The S services are comprised of three lines:
The 42nd Street Shuttle runs from Grand Central to Times Square.
The Franklin Avenue Shuttle runs from Franklin Avenue to Prospect Park.
The Rockaway shuttle runs from Broad Channel and Rockaway Beach - Beach 116th Street.
Rolling Stock (accurate as of March 2025)
Each line has assorted rolling stock and varies through the lines. But, here are some basics:
The IRT (A Division) has a different loading gauge, which means that the…
IND and BMT (B Division) can share rolling stock.
Therefore, IRT trains cannot run on IND and BMT lines and vice versa.
Overview!
R44: Runs on Staten Island and are being gradually replaced by the R211S trains
R46: The oldest trains in the subway system, currently running on the A, C, N, Q, W, and Rockaway Shuttle. They are being gradually replaced by the R211A and R211T trains.
R62: The oldest trains on the IRT lines, divided into 2 variants (R62 made by Kawasaki and the R62A made by Bombardier). The R62 runs on the 3 and the R62A runs on the 1 and 6.
R68: The second oldest and the last non-NTT (New Technology Train), divided into two variants (R68 made by Westinghouse and Amrail and the R68A made by Kawasaki). The R68 runs on the B, D, N, Q, R, and Franklin Avenue Shuttle.
R142: The first NTT (New Technology Train), divided into 2 variants (R142 made by Bombardier and the R142A made by Kawasaki). The R142 runs on the 2, 4, and 5, and the R142A runs on the 6 only.
Some R142As were converted into R188s.
R143: The first NTT to run on the B Division (second overall) and the first to be retrofitted with CBTC. The R143 runs on the L solely.
R160: The third NTT, divided into two variants (R160A built by Alstom and the R160B built by Kawasaki). The R160A runs on the J, L, M, and Z lines and the R160B runs on the E, F, G, and R.
R179: The second newest NTT. The R179 runs on the A, C, J, Z, and Rockaway Shuttle.
R188: The newest train on the A Division, some converted from R142As (also one of our personal favorites). The R188 runs on the 7 exclusively.
R211: The newest train on the B Division and the subway system overall, divided into 3 variants (R211A for non-open gangway trains, R211T for vice-versa, and the R211S for the SIR, with no open gangways.). The R211 runs on the A, C, G, and the Staten Island Railway.
Planned Lines & Extensions
There are currently two future routes (1 in construction, 1 in planning) for the New York City Subway. One line in planning is called the Interborough Express (IBX). This line is a light-rail line (tram-like trains), different from the normal trains on the New York City Subway. The IBX will run on the abandoned LIRR Bay Ridge Branch and will run from the Brooklyn Army Terminal to Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Ave. This includes connections to the 2, 3, 7, A, B, C, D, E, F, J, L, M, N, Q, R, and Z trains, and the Long Island Railroad (LIRR). This project is insanely necessary to serve the densely connected areas of Brooklyn and Queens and the connectivity of jobs and leisure between the two boroughs, and most subway lines are made as a connection to Manhattan and not to outer boroughs exclusively.
The second line, which is under construction and partially opened, is the Second Avenue Subway. At the moment, the Q line runs between Lexington Ave-63rd Street and 96th Street on the 2nd Ave line. Eventually, the MTA plans for the 2nd Ave line to extend from Hanover Square in Lower Manhattan to 125th Street with a transfer to the 4,5, and 6 trains and the Metro-North Railroad (MNR). There is a planned extension across 125th Street to the 1 line’s 125th Street Station, transferring with many lines along 125th Street. This will lead to the creation of the T train, which will eventually run from the aforementioned 125th Street to Houston St. and later Hanover Square in Lower Manhattan. This will provide connections to the B and D (so far) at Grand Street.
That just about wraps up our article! We hope you enjoyed this read on our iconic, quintessential, New York City Subway. After all, we wouldn’t be the city that we are without it, connecting us to places we need to be, whether it’s someone’s acting gig on Broadway, or on the way to see a friend in Coney Island. So, the next time you ride the subway, you learned something new and it has so much more than meets the eye!