Subway FAQ: Facts and Figures
Facts and Figures
|Open Cut Stations||9|
|Elevators (for customer use)||60|
Busiest Stations Annually (1994)
|Station||Routes||No. of Fares|
|1. Times Square||A,C,E,N,R,S,1,2,3,7,9||35.6 million|
|2. Grand Central||4,5,6,7,S||31.5 million|
|3. 34th St-Herald Square||B,D,F,N,Q,R||23.3 million|
|4. Penn Station-34th St||1,2,3,9||19.3 million|
|5. 34th St-Penn Station||A,C,E||17.2 million|
|6. 51st St-Lexington||E,F,6||16.0 million|
|7. Chambers St/World Trade Ctr||A,C,E,2,3||15.3 million|
|8. 14th St-Union Square||L,N,R,4,5,6||15.2 million|
|9. Broadway-Fulton St||A,C,J,M,Z,2,3,4,5||14.0 million|
|10. 47-50th Sts/Rockefeller Ctr||B,D,F,Q||13.7 million|
(Note: "Other" refers to open cut, embankment and surface track)
Mainline Track Miles (for Passenger Service)
|At grade/open cut:||57|
Including the 186 miles of track in New York City Transit's yards, shops and storage areas, the entire system consists of 842 track miles. If laid end to end, this track would stretch from New York City to Chicago. The subway's track gauge (distance between rails) is the same as that of most major American Railroads: 4' 8 1/2".
Other Track Stats
|Tunnel Length||145 miles|
|Tunnel Lighting||442 miles|
|Signal Equipment (in miles)||740|
|Automatic Train Stops||9,800|
Alternating current (AC) operates signals, station and tunnel lighting, ventilation and miscellaneous line equipment. Direct current (DC) is used to operate trains and such auxiliary equipment as water pumps and emergency lighting.
The system's 214 electrical-power substations receive high and low-voltage electrical current from the New York Power Authority. Substations may receive as much as 27,000 volts from the power plants and then convert it for use in the subway. The subway's contact (third) rail requires 625 volts for operating trains. Power is distributed throughout the system via 2,500 miles of cable. These cables pass beneath 7,651 manholes located throughout the city. The power required to operate the subway system during peak hours is about 495,900 kilowatts. Annually, the subway uses 1.8 billion kilowatt hours - enough to light up the City of Buffalo for a year.
Longest ride on the system with no change of trains: Take the A train (31 miles from 207th Street in Manhattan to Far Rockaway in Queens.
Longest ride on the system with a transfer: Take the 2 train from 241st Street in the Bronx, and transfer to the Far Rockaway-bound A train. You'll travel over 38 miles.
Longest between-station stretch: 3.5 miles on the A train between Howard Beach/JFK Airport and Broad Channel stations (Queens).