What is the train system in New York called?

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.



The rail system in New York City is primarily known as the New York City Subway, which is operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). It is one of the world's oldest and most extensive public transit systems, featuring 472 stations and operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition to the subway, the broader New York train network includes the Staten Island Railway (SIR), the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), and Metro-North Railroad, which connect the city to its surrounding suburbs and regions. For travel between New Jersey and Manhattan, passengers use the PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) system. In 2026, the primary way to pay for all these systems is through OMNY, the contactless "tap-and-go" payment system that allows you to use your smartphone, smartwatch, or a contactless credit card at the turnstiles, effectively phasing out the iconic but aging physical MetroCard that was a staple for decades.

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LOCAL TIP: New Yorkers typically call the subway “trains” (not underground or metro) or by their alpha name (the C or the Q).

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Cost: $34 (7-day) or $132 (30-day). You have unlimited swipes on the subway and local buses for either 7 or 30 days. Your MetroCard can only hold one Unlimited Ride refill at a time. You can't pause an unlimited ride card once you've started using it.

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In Manhattan, the trains follow the grid system, and even when they don't in the outer boroughs, stations are named after the streets that they're on. There is, however, one peculiarity: while the subway trains are named after letters of the alphabet, several letters are missing.

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You can use cash, credit, or debit cards to make your purchase. New York City subway fares are $2.75 per trip. For visitors staying more than a couple of days you can buy a one week unlimited MetroCard for $33 or an unlimited monthly MetroCard for $127.00.

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While a single ride costs $2.90, the Unlimited card saves you money because the more you use it, the cheaper each ride is. If your stay is 30 days or longer, consider a 30-day unlimited card for $127 ($63.50 reduced fare). Important rules that apply to Unlimited MetroCards: It can only be used by 1 person.

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MetroCards Will Be Officially Phased Out By 2024, Replaced By OMNY. OMNY readers, which allow New Yorkers to tap to pay for their ride instead of swipe an iconic MetroCard, have officially been installed in every single subway station in NYC.

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Aside from walking, the bus or the subway is the cheapest way to get around NYC since a single ride costs only $2.75.

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Credit cards are accepted everywhere. In New York (and in the rest of the US) people that use credit cards are more common than those that use cash. In many ways, it is comparable to using a debit card. Debit cards will work at ATMs and you can pay more and more with them in restaurants and stores in New York as well.

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NEW YORK CITY'S CROWN JEWEL. Be transported by the iconic beauty and lasting legacy of Grand Central Terminal. This historic world-famous landmark in Midtown Manhattan is not simply a transportation hub — it's also a shopping, dining, and cultural destination all under one magnificent roof.

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The most crowded train in the NYC Subway system is often considered to be the 4, 5, and 6 trains during peak hours. These lines, collectively known as the Lexington Avenue Line, serve a significant portion of Manhattan and the Bronx, and experience high ridership due to several reasons: 1.

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Tap to pay your fare with your contactless credit/debit card, smartphone, or OMNY card, or pay with a MetroCard.

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Pay Per Ride MetroCard is nothing but a rechargeable card that will allow you to pay each individual ride at the reduced fare of $2.75 fee. You are free to re-load the Metro Card as many times as you like, plus at any station, you can swipe as many as 4 times back-to-back meaning 4 people can share the same card.

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Consider an unlimited MetroCard. If you take the bus or subway more than 46 times in a month, a 30-Day Unlimited card, which costs $132, would save you money. A 7-Day Unlimited card, which costs $34, saves you money if you take more than 12 rides in seven days.

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What most people do not realize is that since 2005, it has been illegal to walk between subway cars. That year, the MTA Board approved a series of changes to the New York City Transit Rules of Conduct, and among those amendments was one targeting subway walkers. The penalty: A $75 fine.

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A subway is not technically a train, but the tunnel and track where the subway train runs—similar to how a monorail train is a type of train, but a monorail is not a train, but the thing the monorail train runs on. Some people use the word “subway” to mean subway train, though.

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They are the same: electric multiple-unit rapid transit trains. Metro train can run in subways (tunnels), at grade level, or on elevated trackways—referred to as el's in North America. Metro systems are thus frequently referred to as the subway or the underground, the el, or just the train.

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