MTA New York City Subway
The New York City Subway provides rapid transit rail service within four boroughs (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx) of New York City. It is operated by the New York City Transit Authority, a part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The New York City subway is one of the world's oldest and largest and is operated under two divisions: the A Division, consisting of former Interborough Rapid Transit Company lines; and the B Division, which consists of lines of Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit and Independent Subway heritage. Both divisions each maintain their own rolling stock, with A Division cars narrower than those of the B Division. Due to these differences, A Division cars are never placed into revenue service along B Division trackage due to the large gap between platforms and the trains and B Division cars cannot fit in A Division tunnels. A Division routes are assigned numbers and B Division routes are indicated by letters.
History
The first subway operations began in 1904, when the first Interborough Rapid Transit line opened, running from City Hall along the present-day Lexington Avenue line north to Grand Central, where it turned west onto what is now the 42nd Street Shuttle west to Times Square, where it then followed the Broadway line north to 145th Street. It was then brought in to the Bronx in 1905, though service on that portion had already been provided starting in 1904 as a branch of the Third Avenue elevated line during the construction of a tunnel under the Harlem River. The Third Avenue line, plus elevated lines along Second, Sixth and Ninth Avenues, were all also operated by the IRT.
Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit (the former Brooklyn Rapid Transit) operated the Culver, West End, Lexington, Myrtle, Broadway, Fulton Street and Fifth Avenue elevated lines in Brooklyn. Of these, only the Culver, West End, Broadway and parts of the Myrtle lines remain in service today, and the A service also uses a portion of the Fulton Street line as it was incorporated into an extension of the subway to the Rockaways in the 1950's.
In 1913, the city began building additional IRT and BMT lines under the Dual Contracts, most of which was completed by 1920. The IRT lines included an extension of the Broadway line south along Seventh Avenue from Times Square and the Lexington Avenue line north of Grand Central, the Jerome Avenue, White Plains Road and Pelham Bay Park branches in the Bronx and all IRT lines in Brooklyn east of Atlantic Avenue. A second subway under Broadway and a subway under Nassau Street brought the BMT further into Manhattan, other BMT lines included the 14th Street-Canarsie, Fourth Avenue, West End and Culver lines, as well as connections to the Sea Beach and Brighton Beach lines. Two other lines, the Flushing and Astoria lines in Queens, originally saw trains from both companies.
In the 1920's, the city formed the Independent Subway, intended to be an "independent" system with no connections to the two private companies. After failing to find a private contractor, the city began operating the system by itself. With the exception of the Culver Viaduct in Brooklyn, the IND consisted entirely of underground subways. IND lines included the Eighth and Sixth Avenue lines in Manhattan (the latter of which resulted in the closure of an overlapping elevated IRT line), the Queens Boulevard Line in Queens, the Concourse Line in the Bronx, the Fulton Street Subway in Brooklyn (which caused the eventual demolition of most of the BMT Fulton Street Line), the Crosstown Subway between Brooklyn and Queens and a line in Brooklyn via the Culver Viaduct to Church Avenue.
After the three systems were merged into one city-controlled entity in 1940, many redundant elevated lines were closed, free transfers were created between systems starting in 1948 and new through tracks connecting the IND and BMT systems were built starting in 1954. In 1956, the IND Fulton Street Line was connected to the remaining portion of the BMT Fulton Street Line, allowing the subway to access the Rockaways for the first time. The Chrystie Street Connection, opened in 1967, allowed Manhattan Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge services access to all IND and BMT lines in Manhattan. The most recent IND-BMT connection to be built, the 63rd Street Line, was finally completed in 2001 after having operated as a stub-end line since it's 1989 opening and beforehand having been under construction since 1969. A fifth IND-BMT through route is currently under construction and allows BMT Broadway Line services to access the IND Second Avenue Line. This connection, along with the first phase of the Second Avenue Line itself, is scheduled to open in December 2016.
The IRT, BMT and IND names were retired from official usage in 1967 after the opening of the Chrystie Street Connection. Former IRT lines are now part of the A Division and ex-BMT and ex-IND lines were consolidated under a single B Division umbrella, despite a number of differences between former BMT and IND lines.
Services
Rolling Stock
Active
| Fleet number(s) | Thumbnail | Year | Manufacturer | Model | Motors | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1101-1250 | 
|
2002-2003 | Bombardier | R142 | GEC Alstom 4LCA1640A | |
| 1301-1625 | 
|
1983-1985 | Kawasaki | R62 | GE 1257E1 | 1366-1370, 1435-1437, and 1439-1440 were retired from various accidents |
| 1651-2475 | 
|
1984-1987 | Bombardier | R62A | Westinghouse 1447J | 1909 was retired from an accident |
| 2500-2924 | 
|
1986-1988 | Westinghouse-Amrail | R68 | Westinghouse 1447J | |
| 3010-3327 | 
|
2016-2018 | Bombardier | R179 | ||
| 4060–4499 | 
|
2020-2024 | Kawasaki | R211A | TBD | |
| 4040–4059 | 
|
2024 | R211T | TBD |
| |
| 5001-5200 | 
|
1988-1989 | R68A | Westinghouse 1447J | ||
| 5482-6258 | 
|
1975-1978 | Pullman-Standard | R46 | GE 1257 |
|
| 6301-7180 |  
|
1999-2003 | Bombardier | R142 | GEC Alstom 4LCA1640A |
|
| 7211-7810 | 
|
1999-2004 | Kawasaki | R142A | Bombardier 1508C |
|
| 7211-7590, 7811-7936 |
|
2011-2015 | Kawasaki | R188 | Bombardier 1508C |
|
| 8101-8312 | 
|
2000-2003 | Kawasaki | R143 | Bombardier 1508C | |
| 8313-8652 | 
|
2007-2008 | Alstom | R160A | Alstom ONIX 4LCA1640A |
|
| 8653-8712 | 
|
2006-2008 | Alstom | R160A | Alstom ONIX 4LCA1640A |
|
| 8713-9232 | 
|
2005-2008 | Kawasaki | R160B | 8713-8842, 9103-9232: Alstom ONIX 4LCA1640A
8843-9102: Siemens SITRAC |
|
| 9233-9802 | 
|
2008-2010 | Alstom | R160A | Alstom ONIX 4LCA1640A |
|
| 9803-9942 | 
|
2008-2010 | Kawasaki | R160B | Alstom ONIX 4LCA1640A | |
| 9943-9974 | 
|
2008-2010 | Alstom | R160A | Alstom ONIX 4LCA1640A |
|
Future
| Fleet number(s) | Thumbnail | Year | Manufacturer | Model | Motors | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100-174 | 
|
2024-2026 | Kawasaki | R211S | TBD |
|
Retired
NOTE: cars older than 1940 have not yet been listed here.
| Fleet number(s) | Thumbnail | Year | Manufacturer | Model | Motors | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1650–1701 | 1940 | AC&F | R9 | |||
| 1702–1802 | 1940 | Pressed Steel | R9 | |||
| 1803-1852, 3000-3349 |
|
1948 | AC&F | R10 | Westinghouse 1447
GE 1240 |
|
| 3001-3009 | 
|
1992 | Bombardier | R110B |
| |
| 3350-3649 | 
|
1964-1965 | Budd | R32 | Westinghouse 1447C
|
|
| 3650-3949 | 
|
1964-1965 | Budd | R32A | Westinghouse 1447C
|
|
| 3950-4149 | 1966-67 | St. Louis | R38 | Westinghouse 1447C
GE 1240A5 |
||
| 4150-4449 | 
|
1968-69 | St. Louis | R40 | Westinghouse 1447C
GE 1240A2 |
|
| 4450-4549 | 1969 | St. Louis | R40M | Westinghouse 1447C | ||
| 4550-4949 |  
|
1969-1970 | St. Louis | R42 | Westinghouse 1447C |
|
| 5202-5479 | 1971-73 | St. Louis | R44 | Westinghouse 1447F | ||
| 5703-5802 | 
|
1948 | AC&F | R12 | Westinghouse 1447
GE 1240 |
|
| 5803-5952 | 
|
1949 | AC&F | R14 | Westinghouse 1447
GE 1240 |
|
| 5953-5999, 6200-6252 |
|
1950 | AC&F | R15 | Westinghouse 1447
GE 1240 |
|
| 6300-6499 | 
|
1955 | AC&F | R16 | ||
| 6500-6899 | 
|
1955 | St. Louis | R17 | Westinghouse 1447
GE 1240 |
|
| 7050-7299 | 1956 | St. Louis | R21 | Westinghouse 1447
GE 1240 |
||
| 7300-7749 | 1957 | St. Louis | R22 | Westinghouse 1447
GE 1240 |
||
| 7750-7859 | 1959-60 | AC&F | R26 | |||
| 7860-7959 | 
|
1960-61 | AC&F | R28 | ||
| 8001-8010 | 1992 | Kawasaki | R110A |
| ||
| 8010-8019 | 
|
1949 | Budd | R11 | GE 1240 |
|
| 8020-8249 | 1960 | St. Louis | R27 | |||
| 8250-8351 | 
|
1961 | St. Louis | R30 | ||
| 8352-8411 | 
|
1961 | St. Louis | R30A | ||
| 8412-8569 | 1961 | St. Louis | R30 | |||
| 8570-8805 | 1962-63 | St. Louis | R29 | |||
| 8806-9345 | 
|
1962-63 | St. Louis | R33 |
| |
| 9346-9769 | 
|
1963-64 | St. Louis | R36 |
|