The subway

Twenty-four hours a day, hundreds of stations, and a map that tells you less than you think.

The single most useful thing to understand about the New York subway is that the letter or number on the train is a service, not a line. The physical tracks are lines; the services running over them change by time of day and day of week. That is why a station can be served by four different trains that never appear together.

Express and local

Most trunk routes have four tracks: two local, two express. Local trains stop everywhere. Express trains skip most stops and use the middle tracks.

On station signs and maps, a circle around a number or letter means the train makes all local stops. A diamond means it runs express, usually only during rush hours in the peak direction. If you are new, this is the detail most worth learning — riding an express past your stop is the classic mistake, and the ride back can be long.

When express and local run on the same platform, check the front and side of the train, not just the platform sign.

Reading the map

The official map is a diagram, not a scale drawing. Distances in Manhattan are compressed and distances in the outer boroughs are stretched. Two stations that look adjacent may be a fifteen-minute walk apart, and two stations that look far apart may share an underground passage.

White circles on the map indicate express stops; black ones indicate local stops. That distinction does more work than most riders realise.

Transfers

Some transfers are inside fare control and free; some require leaving the station and re-entering, which costs another fare unless it is a designated out-of-system transfer. The map marks free transfers, but the walk between them is sometimes considerable — Times Square and the Lexington Avenue complexes especially.

Direction

Trains are signed Uptown / The Bronx and Downtown / Brooklyn rather than by compass direction. In Queens and Brooklyn, signs use the terminal station instead, which assumes you know the geography. When in doubt, the platform sign listing the next several stops is the reliable one.

Getting current information

Use the MTA's own service status. Third-party apps are convenient but lag on planned work, and planned work is the thing most likely to disrupt your trip.