Subways All the Ways

Getting around in Manhattan aka ‘The City’ can be frustrating: traffic, delayed trains, construction, the BQE, people. Take a step back and you realize it’s an intricate system of tracks above and below ground connecting 4 boroughs (sorry Staten Island) developed over a century ago. Dare we stay a marvel that it exists? The brain power it took to come up with the system is one of many questions contemplated by riders on their daily commute (or not).

New York City built the first subway system, right?

Actually, Boston was the first to create a “four-track-wide” subway system in 1897 using streetcars.

Who’s the brain power behind the system?

Okay, not a quick question to answer. To sum it up, legislation, the city and private companies all built the foundation to get the subway system underway. Legislation (the Rapid Transit Act, 1891) was passed for a board to be created who would come up with the routes. Private landowners, such as hotels in mid-town NYC, had to be approached to approve construction below their properties and routes were created and revised around approvals. It would take about 10 years of planning and construction to complete the first underground route in 1904.

Ever wonder how many miles of tracks there are?

It started out as only 21 miles of underground track in 1904 with one line, the Manhattan Main Line (now part of the 4, 5, 6), running the route: City Hall> Lafayette Street> Park Avenue>42nd Street> Times Square> Broadway> 145th Street in Harlem. Within 10 years, it expanded to 123 miles and today it has 248 miles of track with about 40% above ground.

Why do routes use numbers and letters?

Simple answer: the subway tracks/routes were originally operated by three different companies (IRT, BMT, and IND) and each had their own system of labeling the routes. Two using numbers and one using letters. In 1940, they all merged under the ownership and operations of the city and some renaming occurred to avoid confusion between duplicate numbering.

TL;DR

Three different companies were competing for riders and running the tracks independently in the beginning. Two private companies contributed to the building of the subway lines: the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT), the Brooklyn Rapid Transit (BRT), later known as the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT). The city built the tracks and leased them out to the different companies to operate. Then, the city established their own organization to run routes, the Independent Subway System (IND). The city eventually bought the private lines and created connections between the systems and today is under the state organization, Metropolitan Transportation Authority or the MTA.

Whoa, a lot of knowledge for one read and a lot of acronyms! What’s impressive is how the subway has been keeping up with modern technology and improving the experience for riders on a system built over a 100 years ago. Cars are now air-conditioned, stations have touch free payment systems (no more metrocard litter or losing it), apps to keep you updated on delays and more. And, you’re officially a local when you can get around on the system without a phone.