- OPERATION

The New York City subway operates around the clock, about every 4 min during rush hours (6:00-9:00 and 16:00-18:30) and every 20 min after midnight.

- FARES (2005)

A basic fare of $ 2.00 applies for any trip on the subway although the relatively new MetroCard, which replaced the traditional subway token, offers certain discounts:

Pay-per-Ride MetroCard: cash-card which gives you 12 rides for the price of 10; you can prepay $4.00 - $ 80.00, includes one free transfer between subway and buses

1-Day Fun Pass: $ 7.00 - unlimited travel on subway and local buses

7-Day MetroCard: $ 24.00 - unlimited travel on subway and local buses

30-Day MetroCard: $ 76.00 - unlimited travel on subway and local buses

- All fares subject to change -

New York City is the biggest city in the USA and among the largest agglomerations worldwide with some 12 million inhabitants. It also boasts the world's longest metro network, the "Subway", which, although the name suggests, runs above ground for more than half of its length. Most underground sections can be found in Manhattan and in the centre of Brooklyn, whereas most lines through Queens and the Bronx run on elevated structures, which could also be seen in Manhattan before the construction of subways started at the end of the 19th century. The first of these lines were erected as soon as 1867 and used steam traction. Meanwhile other major cities in the world had inaugurated their first underground metro lines (London, Glasgow, Budapest, Paris). Eventually building of subways also got underway in Manhattan and the first IRT line (14.7 km) opened on 28 Oct. 1904 between City Hall and 145 St. on Broadway (now part of green route to 42 St and red route from Times Sq.). While the IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit) expanded its network from Manhattan towards the other boroughs, a second company, the BRT, started operating from Brooklyn. Both companies built underwater tunnels to cross the East River. Later, in 1932, the city-owned IND (Independent System) became the third metro operator in New York City. In 1940 both private companies went bankrupt and were taken over by the city. Obviously the different origin of today's lines is the reason for the lack of convenient transfer stations between them.

The entire network consists of 22 lines plus 3 shuttle services. The total length is 398 km (152 km underground) with 469 stations (153 elevated, 20 at grade, 17 in a cut and 279 underground). The deepest station on the network is 191 St (Lines 1/9) which lies 60 m below street level. 171 km of the network have 4 tracks (2 separate tracks for express services) and 95 km have 3 tracks. The subway carries 4.7 million passengers on an average workday (Sept. 2000). For better orientation, lines are bundled and shown in different colours on maps:

Red Lines (7th Avenue Lines) - 1, 9, 2, 3

Green Lines (Lexington Avenue Lines) - 4, 5, 6

Purple Line (Flushing Line) - 7

Blue Lines (8th Avenue Lines) - A, C, E

Orange Lines (6th Avenue Lines) - B, D, F, V

Yellow Lines (Broadway Lines) - N, R, Q, W

Brown Lines (Nassau Street Lines) - J, Z, M

Light Green Line (Brooklyn-Queens Crosstown Line) - G

Grey Line (14th St - Canarsie Local Line) - L

While rolling stock is gradually being replaced by more comfortable and technically more advanced cars, no new routes are to be built in the near future. A new line along 2nd Avenue has been planned for a long time but its realisation is still far away. The only new sections built in the last decades are the Jamaica Center extension on the blue and brown line, and the 63rd Street subway which includes another East River crossing.

Apart from the NYC Subway, PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) links central Manhattan to Jersey City and Newark in New Jersey, a flat fare of $ 1.00 applies and the lines operated by New Jersey Transit run like a metro (every few minutes during rush hours), 24 hours a day. Opened in 1908, the total length of the network is 22.2 km with 11.9 km underground (including two tunnels under the Hudson river).

LIRR (Long Island Railroad) and METRO NORTH offer commuter train service outside New York City, the Staten Island Railway is a surface metro in New York's fifth borough (23 km, 22 stations).