New York City Subway

New York City Subway

The New York City subway can be easy to learn, the main thing is to follow the signs when transferring. The New York City subway scheme seems very confusing and chaotic, but that’s only at first. On the scheme the subway lines are marked with colors, trains are assigned a number or letter, and they move not along the lines, but each on its own route. Trains with different numbers leave from the same point, have common stops, but at some point diverge, each on its own way. It should be noted that the same line can be served by multiple trains, each on a different section of track. Some sections of track resemble a city’s main street, with several bus routes following it.

Video: New York City subway

General Information

There are express trains running through the stop, but they don’t run on weekends. The subway in Manhapen is itself the subject of a special story. The lobbies and passages are sparsely decorated, but New Yorkers pride themselves on their quiet and fast subways. And in the passageways you can meet wonderful musicians. There are many stories about how experienced producers paid attention to talented but unknown musicians and made them into real stars.

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Legends like this fit perfectly into the concept of the American dream. There are also a lot of homeless people, beggars or just people with oddities. That’s why you should keep an eye on your belongings, because every day in the subway in New York City many wallets, cell phones and other useful things leave their rightful owners without the consent of the latter. The mores prevailing in the subway, in many respects, copy those on the surface under which it passes. The subways under the center island and Manhattan are full of clerks, brokers, and business men, tired or energetic, but generally very reserved. The farther from the center, the more relaxed the people behave.

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Let you not be surprised by passengers who comfortably collapse on the seats or take off their shoes and sit with their feet on the seats. This does not embarrass anyone, people of the big city have long been accustomed to ignore the strangeness and unpredictability of others. A weekly subway pass costs about 21 dollars and is a very useful thing. Remember, if you accidentally went to the wrong station and, quickly returning, try to go to another, the turnstile will not open. The minimum time interval between the magnetic card passing through the turnstile is 18 minutes. As a last resort, go to the lady on duty at the entrance, explain your mistake as best you can, she/he will understand your situation and open the turnstile.

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There is no automatic voice-announcer for stops on the New York City subway. Station names are announced solely at will by the driver. He also occasionally utters the phrase “stand clear of closing doors” in a communicative impulse. He also announces unplanned route changes and other inconveniences. Be on the lookout if the driver repeats something repeatedly over the loudspeaker, your route may have been changed.

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The platforms of some New York City subway stations (especially in Manhattan) do not communicate with each other underground. If you find yourself on a platform with trains going in the wrong direction, you will have to get out and re-enter the street, already from the right side, paying for the entrance again. To avoid this, watch the signs above the subway entrance. All directions to Queens, the Bronx and Upper Manhattan are called “UPTOWN” (uptown), to Brooklyn, Lower Manhattan – “DOWNTOWN” (down town).

Perhaps the main convenience is that the subway runs around the clock. But traveling in the late hours can be unsafe. Try to be seated in a carriage with a driver. Subway management advises waiting for a train (more than half an hour) at night in the station, where there are signs “off-peak waiting area.”

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In the New York City subway, you can sometimes see rats going about their business between the rails. Don’t be frightened, New Yorkers are used to them.

A form of fare payment, the magnetic card (MetroCard), is also the unit of payment on buses. It is purchased at a ticket office or vending machine at the entrance to the station. The machine accepts cash and credit cards AmEx, Disc, Master Card, VISA. Don’t be surprised to find a machine with a Russian language option – there are hundreds of thousands of Russian-speaking residents in New York. If you plan to travel extensively, consider buying a bus pass. The following types of passes are available:

• Fun Pass ($7) – the number of subway and bus rides is unlimited for one day,
• 7-Day Pass ($21) – for a week,
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• 30-Day Pass ($70) – for a month.

Once swiped through the turnstile, the pass resumes in 18 minutes.

One-time pass cards cost $2. But you can save a little by buying a card for ten trips. Then, as a bonus, you’ll get one free.

$2 for a single ride, $10 for six rides, $20 for twelve rides.

Children no taller than 1m 10cm are entitled to free subway and bus fare. Passengers over 65 and disabled passengers are also entitled to a 50% discount.

However, it can only be obtained by showing proof of date of birth at the office at 3 Stone Street in Manhattan (between Broadway and Broad Street). For more information on subway and bus operations, visit the official website at www.mta.info under NYC Transit.