We refer to these services as just 'trains'. Within each line, there are a few services which are each designated with a single letter or a single number. Even locals often don't know the official name of a given line (and you'll see later why). Don't worry about the line names too much. The 8th Ave line for instance is always blue, while the Broadway - 7th Ave line is always red. Here are the main lines: Train ServicesĪs you can see, each line has a name and a specific color. The colored subway lines on the map indicate related trains that share a portion of common track.

The cost of going from one station to a neighboring station (say, a one-minute ride) is the same as traveling from one end of the map to the other (which might take two hours). Unlike many other subway systems around the world, there are no zones because you pay the same fare regardless of how far or how long your trip is. You can also find on this map a few of the other commuter lines that are not officially part of the subway, such as Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) tracks, buses, and AirTrains - but let's ignore those for now.Īs you can see, no subway line ever leaves New York and no physical subway connection exists from Staten Island to the rest of the subway system. The thick, solid colored lines are obviously the subway lines.

Stations might actually be farther apart or closer together than they appear on this map. The map is intentionally distorted to highlight the subway lines, stations, and the connections between them. Manhattan is not that wide and Staten Island isn't really that small. The first thing I want to point out is that this map is not drawn to scale.

Mta new york city transit