New York City Subway stations
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The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system that serves four of the five boroughs of New York City, New York: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens.Template:Efn Its operator is the New York City Transit Authority, which is itself controlled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York. In 2015, an average of 5.65 million passengers used the system daily, making it the busiest rapid transit system in the United States and the 11th busiest in the world.<ref name="ridership2012">Template:NYCS const</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The present New York City Subway system is composed of three formerly separate systems that merged in 1940: the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), and the Independent Subway System (IND). The privately held IRT, founded in 1902, constructed and operated the first underground railway line in New York City.Template:Efn The opening of the first line on October 27, 1904, is commonly cited as the opening of the modern New York City Subway, although some elevated lines of the IRT and BMT that were initially incorporated into the New York City Subway system but then demolished predate this. The oldest sections of elevated lines still in operation were built in 1885. The BMT, founded in 1923 and also privately held, was formed from the bankruptcy of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company. The IND was created by the City of New York in 1921 to be a municipally owned competitor of the two private companies. Unification in June 1940 by the New York City Board of Transportation brought the three systems under one operator. The New York City Transit Authority, created in 1953 to be a public benefit corporation that acquired the rapid transit and surface line (buses and streetcars) infrastructure of the Board of Transportation, remains the operator of the New York City Subway today.
The official count of stations is Template:NYCS const; however, this tabulation classifies some transfer stations as two or more stations, which are called "station complexes" within the nomenclature of the New York City Subway. If station complexes are counted as one station each, the number of stations is Template:NYCS const. Thirty-two such station complexes exist. The reason for the higher count generally lies in the history of the New York City Subway: IRT, BMT and IND stations are usually counted separately, particularly if their lines are not parallel and are adjacent to or on another level to each other. Regardless of how stations are counted, the New York City Subway has the second-largest number of rapid transit stations in the world, behind the Beijing Subway.
There are numerous New York City Subway stations that are closed, many of which stem from the demolition of elevated lines once operated by the IRT and the BMT that were made largely but not completely redundant to underground lines subsequently constructed.
The newest New York City Subway stations are part of the Second Avenue Subway, and are located on Second Avenue at 72nd, 86th and 96th streets. They opened on January 1, 2017.
Stations that share identical street names are disambiguated by the line name and/or the cross street each is associated with. For example, "125th Street station" can refer to four separate stations: 125th Street on the IND Eighth Avenue Line (Template:NYCS trains), the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (Template:NYCS trains), the IRT Lenox Avenue Line (Template:NYCS trains), and the IRT Lexington Avenue Line (Template:NYCS trains).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This situation occurs numerous times.
Station facilities and amenities
Of the [[List of New York City Subway stations|Template:NYCS const stations]] in the system, {{#expr:Template:NYCS const-2}} are served 24 hours a day.Template:Efn Underground stations in the New York City Subway are typically accessed by staircases going down from street level. Many of these staircases are painted in a common shade of green, with slight or significant variations in design.<ref name="FNY-SubwayEntranceStylings">Template:Cite web</ref> Other stations have unique entrances reflective of their location or date of construction. Several station entrance stairs, for example, are integrated into adjacent buildings.<ref name="FNY-SubwayEntranceStylings" /> Nearly all station entrances feature color-coded globe or square lamps signifying their status as an entrance (see below).<ref name="nytimes 20020813" />
Out of all the stations on the New York City Subway,
- 275 are fully underground (59%)
- 153 are elevated stations (32%)
- 29 are on an embankment (6%)
- 15 are open-cut stations (3%)
This means that 61% of the stations are below the surface (59% being fully underground and about 2% with most of the station below the surface). 39% of stations are above the surface or overground.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Entrances
Turnstiles and entrance gates
Template:See also The New York City Subway primarily employs two types of turnstiles: a waist-high turnstile, and a full-height turnstile known as a High Entry-Exit Turnstile (HEET). The waist-high turnstiles, the most prominent in the system, were installed beginning in 1993 along with the implementation of MetroCard, though they originally accepted tokens.<ref name="NYTimes-NYCSAutomatingFare-1993">Template:Cite web</ref> They are manufactured in Tennessee by Cubic Corporation. Some of the waist-high turnstiles date to the late 20th century, when tokens were used to pay fares; as such, they still have token-return compartments.<ref name="Bonanos 2024 f823">Template:Cite web</ref> The waist-high turnstiles are vulnerable to a practice called "back-cocking", in which people entering the system can partially rotate the turnstile as if they were exiting, then slip through the side of the turnstile without paying.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The newer HEETs resemble several older turnstiles of that design informally called "iron maidens", and are prevalent at subway entrances without token booths to discourage fare evasion.<ref name="PCAC-ClosedSubwayEntrance-2001" /> Both turnstiles are stainless steel and are bidirectional, allowing passengers to enter with fare payment and to exit. A third older type of turnstile, the High Exit Turnstile (HET), is a black-painted unidirectional iron maiden and only turns in the exiting direction.<ref name="PCAC-ClosedSubwayEntrance-2001" /> Entrance is also available via Service Entry gates or AutoGates, which cater primarily to handicapped passengers<ref name=MTA-HowtoRideSubway>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="NYCAccessibilityGuide-2008">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> or passengers with large items such as strollers and luggage. These gates double as pushbar Emergency Exits, though they are often used for regular exiting in crowded stations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
New turnstile designs were introduced in the 2020s. The MTA announced in 2021 that it would install wide-aisle fare gates for disabled passengers at five subway stations by mid-2022;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the implementation of these fare gates was delayed by a year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Additionally, in an attempt to reduce fare evasion, the MTA exhibited several designs for half-height and full-height Plexiglas turnstiles in May 2023, which would replace the existing waist-high turnstiles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On December 4, 2023, the first wide aisle fare gates were installed at Sutphin Boulevard–Archer Avenue–JFK Airport station.<ref name="ABC7 New York 2023 u825">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Within two months, there was a slight increase in fare-paying riders at the station, although passengers were able to evade fares merely by leaning over the new turnstiles and activating the motion sensors.<ref name="Liebman 2024 a228">Template:Cite web</ref> Following adjustments to the turnstiles, the MTA announced in May 2024 that the new turnstiles would be installed at fifteen stations by the end of that year,<ref name="Brachfeld 2024 y467">Template:Cite web</ref> but the installation of the turnstiles was delayed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The MTA has also tested out other features to prevent fare evasion, including low metal fins on each arm of a turnstile,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as well as high spiked panels between separate turnstiles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:AnchorLamps
At most of the system's entrances and exits, there is a lamppost or two bearing a colored spherical or cube-shaped lamp. These lights roughly indicate the station's availability (i.e. how often it is accessible): green means always a full-time, 24/7 entrance and the presence of a 24 hour booth, typically located at the busiest entrance. Red means either a part-time booth or no booth, hence either exit-only or more and more often 24/7 entrance with MetroCard exclusively via HEETs. Older lamps are completely colored green or red. Newer ones, called "half-moons", have only the top half colored, while the bottom half is milky white; this is to provide more light. The half-colored globes have the same meanings as the globes with full colors.<ref name="nytimes 20020813" /> There are also some square lamps.
The meaning of the lights is poorly understood by passengers and was originally more complicated. Green, yellow, and red lights were introduced in 1982 to indicate the entrance's availability, mostly to prevent muggings by warning riders away from entrances that were closed at night. Originally, green signified an entrance located at a full-time station booth, which was open 24/7 and had regular waist-high turnstiles. Yellow signified a part-time booth, to which access to the platforms could be gained using High Entry-Exit Turnstiles (HEETs). Red signified an exit-only.<ref name="nytimes 20020813" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This proved too complicated and yellow was dropped in the early 1990s. Red globes now indicate both part-time entrance or exit-only.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A joke when the system was introduced was that "green meant go in, red meant don't. And yellow meant to take a cab." (NYC medallion taxis are yellow).<ref name="nytimes 20020813">Template:Cite news</ref>
With the introduction of the MetroCard in 1994, the MTA converted many previous exit-only entrances to full-time entrances via HEETs.<ref name="PCAC-ClosedSubwayEntrance-2001" /> The introduction of half-colored globes further confused riders of the subway system, and as of a 2002 survey, the globe lamps are poorly understood.Template:Efn
Concourse
Many stations in the subway system have mezzanines.<ref name="PCAC-ClosedSubwayEntrance-2001" /> In underground stations, this typically consists of the first level below the street or the areas between the street and platform level. For open-cut, grade-level and elevated stations, prevalent in uptown Manhattan and the outer boroughs, the mezzanine area often consists of a station house at street level or above the street.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="BMTJamaicaExtPlan-1915">Template:Cite web</ref> Mezzanines allow for passengers to enter from multiple locations at an intersection and proceed to the correct platform without having to cross the street before entering. At busy intersections, they act as a pedestrian underpass or overpass.<ref name="PCAC-ClosedSubwayEntrance-2001"/>
They also allow for crossover between uptown and downtown trains on side platforms or a pair of island platforms, which is very useful when local tracks are closed for construction. Within the mezzanines are fare control areas, where passengers physically pay their fare to enter the subway system.<ref name="PCAC-ClosedSubwayEntrance-2001">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="MTA-JayLawrenceMetroTech">Template:Cite web</ref> In underground subway stations built close to ground level or under narrow streets, a characteristic of early IRT and BMT construction, the fare control area is at platform level with no mezzanine crossovers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Many elevated stations also have platform-level fare control with no common station house between directions of service.<ref name=NYCSorg-BMTJamaica>Template:Cite web</ref>
Upon entering a station, passengers may use station booths, formerly known as token booths,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> or vending machines to buy their fare, which is stored in a MetroCard. Each station has at least one booth open 24/7, typically located at the busiest entrance.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After swiping the card at a turnstile, customers enter the fare-controlled area of the station and continue to the platforms.<ref name="MTA-HowtoRideSubway" /> Inside fare control are "Off-Hours Waiting Areas", which consist of benches and are identified by a yellow sign.<ref name="MTA-HowtoRideSubway" /><ref name="MTA-RidingSafely">Template:Cite web</ref>
For various reasons, including maintenance costs, decreases in ridership, along with crime and safety issues, many stations have fare control areas, mezzanine areas and entrances that have been closed.<ref name=MTA-ReviewAC-2015>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Many mezzanines that previously stretched the entire length of a station have been split or partitioned by fencing or permanent walls. These closed areas have been abandoned or converted into space for Transit Operations or the New York City Police Department.<ref name="PCAC-ClosedSubwayEntrance-2001" /><ref name="MTA-JayLawrenceMetroTech" />
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Facilities and amenities
Air conditioning
In August 2006, the MTA announced that all future subway stations, which include 34th Street–Hudson Yards, South Ferry, and all Second Avenue Subway stations, will have platforms outfitted with air-cooling systems.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The existing Grand Central–42nd Street station also has these cooling systems; however, for the most part, subway stations lack air-cooling systems due to their expense, and only a few stations have ceiling fans.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Artwork
Many stations are decorated with intricate ceramic tile work, some of it dating back to 1904 when the subway first opened. The subway tile artwork tradition continues in a Percent for Art program.
The MTA Arts & Design program oversees art in the subway system.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Permanent installations, such as sculpture, mosaics, and murals; photographs displayed in lightboxes encourage people to use mass transit.<ref>Subway Art Hard To Miss, Easy To Uncover Template:Webarchive NY1 local news channel. Made November 11, 2010. Retrieved November 12, 2010.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In addition, commissioned art displayed in stations and "art cards", some displaying poetry, are in many of the trains themselves in unused advertisement fixture slots. Some of the art is by internationally known artists such as Elizabeth Murray's Blooming, displayed at Lexington Avenue/59th Street station.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Accessibility
Template:Main Since the majority of the system was built before 1990, the year the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) went into effect, many New York City Subway stations were not designed to be handicapped-accessible. Since then, elevators have been built in newly constructed stations to comply with the ADA. Most grade-level stations required little modification to meet ADA standards. The MTA identified "key stations", high-traffic and/or geographically important stations, which must conform to the ADA when they are extensively renovated. Template:NYCS const, out of Template:NYCS const total stations in the system, Template:NYCS const are accessible;Template:Efn many of them have AutoGate access.<ref name="NYCTAAccess">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="stations">Template:Cite web</ref>
Five stations on the Staten Island Railway are accessible. There are 16 more non-ADA-accessible stations with cross-platform interchanges, as well as other same-platform transfers, available, though the MTA notes that the gaps between train cars and platforms at these stations may nonetheless exceed the maximums established by the ADA.<ref name="stations" />
Entertainment
While a permit is not required for performances in the subway, certain codes of conduct are required.<ref name="MTA-performance">Template:Cite web</ref> Any musician/entertainer may perform in subway mezzanines and platforms. On platforms, there may be no amplifications as this is part of MTA policies: Template:Quote
Performers must not be within Template:Convert of a token booth or Template:Convert from an MTA office/tower, blocking access to an escalator, stairwell, or elevator, interfering with transit services or passenger movement; or in an area where construction is occurring. In addition, performance is prohibited during public service announcements and may be no louder than 85 dBA at Template:Convert away or 70 dBa at Template:Convert from a token booth. Performances are prohibited in subway cars.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Since 1987, MTA has sponsored the "Music Under New York" (MUNY) program<ref>MTA's Arts for Transit's Music Under New York (MUNY) Section Template:Webarchive MTA.info website.</ref> in which street musicians enter a competitive contest to be assigned to the preferred high traffic locations. Each year, applications are reviewed and approximately 70 eligible performers are selected and contacted to participate in live auditions held for one day.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At present, more than 100 soloists and groups participate in MUNY providing over 150 weekly performances at 25 locations throughout the transit system, for example Natalia Paruz, a musical saw player, plays at Union Square. Template:Clear
Restrooms
Restrooms are rare in the subway system. In 2010, there were 133 open restrooms in 81 of the system's 468 stations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Most station restrooms previously open to the public have been closed and converted to storage spaces or employee use.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There are a few major stations that have operating restrooms, including on the concourses of 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal, Chambers Street, 57th Street–Seventh Avenue, Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue, and Lexington Avenue/59th Street.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The majority of restrooms in the New York City Subway are found in express and transfer stations, at ADA-accessible stations, and at terminals, though not all of the aforementioned types of stations have restrooms.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Newer subway stations have restrooms, including 34th Street–Hudson Yards on the IRT Flushing Line<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and three Second Avenue Subway stations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In the 2010s, the MTA planned to "overhaul" and reopen previously-closed restrooms.<ref name="MTA Our Customer Commitments">Template:Cite web</ref> All of the system's restrooms were closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> These restrooms remained closed in 2022, despite a drastic increase in the number of "soiled train" incidents, where human waste was found on trains.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The MTA reopened restrooms at eight stations in January 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At the time, there were restrooms in 69 of the system's 472 stations,<ref name=nyt-2022-10-24>Template:Cite news</ref> and there were 163 total restrooms across the system.<ref name="Nessen 2022">Template:Cite web</ref> Template:As of, there were 58 open bathrooms throughout the system.<ref name="Gonella 2024 q244">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ABC7 New York 2024 h749">Template:Cite web</ref>
Retail
Some platforms have newspaper stands that sell various items including newspapers and food. The MTA has installed retail spaces within paid areas in selected stations, including the station concourses of the Times Square–Port Authority complex, the 59th Street–Columbus Circle station, and the 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center station.<ref name=nyt-2024-07-07>Template:Cite news</ref>
In the 1980s, the MTA operated around 350 retail spaces in the subway system.<ref name=nyt-2024-07-07/> During the 21st century, the MTA continued to make efforts in attracting more diverse retailers and vendors to set up shop in the subway system.<ref>Trendy Shops in the Subway Template:Webarchive MTA.info website. Made August 26, 2010. Retrieved September 2, 2010.</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:As of, there are 111 newsstands in the system, including 20 that are vacant. This includes three empty stands on the Second Avenue Subway that opened that year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Many of the system's stores closed during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. By 2024, only a little over one-quarter of storefronts (54 of 195 storefronts) still had tenants.<ref name=nyt-2024-07-07/>
Lighting
The subway system originally used incandescent lights; the first incandescent bulbs were installed in 1904 as part of the first subway line. As many as 50 types of incandescent lights were once used in the subway. To discourage the theft of the lighting fixtures, the New York City Subway system used lightbulbs with reversed threads, which could not be screwed into residential lamps.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Over the years, all incandescent bulbs in stations have been replaced with fluorescent lights.<ref name="Cudahy 1995 p. 131">Template:Cite book</ref> In 2024, the MTA announced that, as a safety measure, it would install 150,000 LED lights across the subway system by 2026.<ref name="Simko-Bednarski 2024 n452">Template:Cite web; Template:Cite web; Template:Cite web</ref> To discourage people from jumping onto the tracks, there are blue lights at several subway stations.<ref name="Simko-Bednarski 2023 a909">Template:Cite web; Template:Cite web</ref>
Connections
Rapid transit and rail connections are available at designated stations to Amtrak, Long Island Rail Road, AirTrain JFK, Metro-North Railroad, New Jersey Transit and PATH. Connections to the Staten Island Ferry and privately operated ferries such as NYC Ferry, NY Waterway and New York Water Taxi, as well as intercity and commuter bus lines at the Port Authority Bus Terminal and George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal, are also available. Free MetroCard-only transfers to buses are available to MTA New York City Transit buses (including the bus rapid transit Select Bus Service), MTA Bus Company, NICE buses (Nassau County) and Bee-Line buses (Westchester County).<ref name="MTA 2007">Template:Cite web</ref>
Station management
In 2018, New York City Transit president Andy Byford implemented a "group station manager" program, where 24 people would be hired to oversee up to twenty-five stations. This replaced a previous system where station managers could be responsible for up to 100 stations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Group station managers were generally responsible for coordinating repairs and operations, as well as providing customer service in each of the stations under their purview.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> These group station managers repaired over 62,000 issues by early 2020.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Station platforms and configurations
Template:Routemap Out of the system's Template:NYCS const stations, 283 are underground,Template:Efn 149 are elevated, 20 are in open cuts, 7 are at-grade,Template:Efn and 13 are on embankments.Template:Efn
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A typical underground station (163rd Street–Amsterdam Avenue)
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A typical elevated station (176th Street)
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A typical entrance to an underground station (Woodhaven Boulevard)
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A typical entrance to an elevated station (30th Avenue)
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A typical underground station mezzanine (14th Street–Union Square)
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A typical elevated station mezzanine (233rd Street)
A typical subway station has waiting platforms ranging from Template:Convert long. Some IND platforms may be as long as Template:Convert long.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Platforms of former commuter rail stations, such as those on the IND Rockaway Line, are even longer. Due to the large number of transit lines, one platform or set of platforms often serves more than one service, unlike other rapid transit systems including the Paris Metro, but like some lines on the London Underground. A passenger needs to look at the signs hung at the platform entrance steps and over each track to see which trains stop there and when, and at the arriving train to see which train it is.
Almost everywhere express trains run, they run on the inner one (of 3) or two (of 4) tracks. Local trains run on the outer two tracks. In a 3-track configuration, the center track can be used toward the center of the city in the morning and away from the center in the evening, though not every 3-track line has that express service.
There are several common platform configurations:
- On a 2-track line, a station may have one center island platform used for trains in both directions, or 2 side platforms, one for a train in each direction.
- For a 3-track or 4-track line, local stops will have side platforms. The middle one or two tracks will not stop at the station.
- For most 3- or 4-track express stops, there will be two island platforms, one for the local and express in one direction, and another for the local and express in the other direction. Each island platform provides a cross-platform interchange between the local and express services.
In a few cases, a 4-track station has an island platform for the center express tracks and two side platforms for the outside local tracks. This occurs only at three stations near major railway stations where the next station along the line is also an express station with the more common platform configuration. The purpose of splitting the platforms is to limit overcrowding by preventing cross-platform interchanges between local and express services. The oldest station to be built with this layout is the Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center station on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line (Template:NYCS trains), where the connection is to the Atlantic Terminal of the Long Island Rail Road, with an adjacent express station at Nevins Street.
The layout also exists at 34th Street–Penn Station on both the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (Template:NYCS trains) and IND Eighth Avenue Line (Template:NYCS trains), with adjacent express stations at Times Square–42nd Street and 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal, where the connection is to Pennsylvania Station, one of the two major New York City railway stations. This does not occur with the connection to New York's other major station, Grand Central Terminal, at Grand Central on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line (Template:NYCS trains), which has no adjacent express station.
There is one notable 6-track local station, DeKalb Avenue on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line. Trains to or from the Manhattan Bridge either stop at the outer tracks of the island platforms (Template:NYCS trains) or pass through and bypass the station on the middle tracks ("bypass express tracks") (Template:NYCS trains). Trains to or from the Montague Street Tunnel (Template:NYCS trains) stop across the platform from the respective outer track.
Stations with two levels
Some stations have two levels. The levels separate the platforms of different services and/or directions. For example:
- the local trains on one level and the express trains on another level
- trains of two different lines on two different levels
- trains of two different directions on two different levels, with a cross-platform interchange on each level
- trains of different services on two different levels that are on the same line
List of stations
Template:Main In addition to the main list detailing ridership and daytime services, the complete list of stations is also split by borough. The second column displays the number of stations as counted by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The third column shows the number of stations when "station complexes" are considered to be one station each.<ref name="submap">Template:NYCS const</ref>
Station complexes
The New York City Subway has several types of transfer stations, among them station complexes (i.e. sets of two or more stations connected with a passageway inside fare control) and stations serving two or more lines (considered to be one station each). The table below only lists the station complexes. For a more detailed list see the main article.<ref name=submap/>
See also
Template:Portal Template:NYCS const
Notes
References
External links
- Locations of subway stations from NYC Open Data website