The MTA released data from 2022 announcing that the busiest subway station in NYC is officially Times Sq-42 St station, home to the N,Q,R,W,S,1,2,3,7,A,C,E,B,D,F,M lines, with 45,023,339 annual riders.
The original IRT line opened in 1904, and 116 Street - Columbia University (now a 1 train stop) was part of the first wave of stations that ran from City Hall to 145th Street at Broadway.
The fastest portion of the NYC Subway system is the N/R/W trains through the 59th Street Tunnel under the East River (between Lexington Avenue/59th Street and Queensboro Plaza or Queens Plaza). Trains regularly exceed 50 mph in the tunnel and sometimes even exceed 55 (the speed limit in the subway system).
The A train is the longest line in the system — 31 miles, from northern Manhattan through Brooklyn to Far Rockaway in Queens. New York City Transit, the arm of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that operates the subways, says it is the longest subway line in the world.
All rolling stock, in both the A and B Divisions, run on the same 4 foot 8.5 inches (1,435 mm) standard gauge and use the same third-rail geometry and voltage. A typical revenue train consists of 8 to 10 cars, although in practice they can range between 2 and 11 cars.
Most trains on the New York City Subway are manually operated. As of 2022, the system currently uses Automatic Block Signaling, with fixed wayside signals and automatic train stops. Many portions of the signaling system were installed between the 1930s and 1960s.
Freight hopping is the act of sneaking on board a freight train and hitching a ride on it to wherever it might be heading after which you sneak off and either sneak onto another train that's going somewhere else or get the hell out the yard (sneakily) before you're seen and caught by security (surprisingly enough ...
The system is operated by a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The subway system is usually just referred to as the trains. Locals say I can take the train to your place to generally mean that they take the subway. The subway is never referred to as the metro, underground, or tube.