You may need to press your thumb or type in a security key on your phone. For the MetroCard, you have to swipe your way in, which sounds simple but can sometimes be tricky. The card readers installed in the turnstiles are finicky. You have to treat them just the right way for them to let you in. If you swipe too fast, try again. If you swipe to slow, try again. Come up to a turnstile with the MetroCard in your right hand the card reader is always to the right of the turnstile.
Swipe it at a normal speed — not too slow, not too fast. There are two types of turnstiles. There are the regular turnstiles found in most stations, where the bar is horizontal and at hip level like the one below. There are also vertical turnstiles that are as tall as a professional basketball player. When you use these vertical ones like the one below , please make sure you push the bars that are the closest to where you swipe.
When entering larger stations, you can swipe first then pick a direction downtown vs. But with smaller stations and there are many more of these in the system , if you swipe on the downtown side of the platform but want to go uptown , you will not be able to switch sides. The shape of this crowded island naturally led to a mostly linear subway system in Manhattan. That means that most of the subway lines in Manhattan generally run in a north-south fashion.
Piece of cake. Even a pigeon can remember that. So if you look at a map of Manhattan, Downtown would be towards the bottom. The side you need depends on two factors: Where you are and where you want to go. To complicate things even more, there are Local trains and Express trains!
Many subway stations just have one track for each direction one track for Uptown, one for Downtown. Express, because Local is your only option at that station though you might see the Express train speeding by on the second track away from the platform.
On the other hand, if you enter a bigger station and get down to the platform level, you might see two tracks — one on your left and one on your right. That means you now have a choice between an Express train and a Local train. They are usually positioned close to the stairs. Here, you can see that this train is also going Downtown via 8 th Avenue, but that it is running on the Local track. If you want to play it really safe then stick to the Local to avoid getting on the Express and skipping your stop.
Express trains often skip several stations at a time. For example, the D train goes express from 59 th street to th no stops in between , so you would not take this train to the Natural History Museum at 81 st street just to give you one example. However, if you are good with maps and want to shave a few minutes off your ride, you can refer to the subway map where local stations are marked with a black circle and express stops are marked with a white circle obviously, local trains stop at the express stops as well to see if the Express train makes sense for you on a case-by-case basis.
Are you enjoying this guide? Would you like to have it with you for reference? Click on the link below to get this as a free and printer-friendly PDF file in your inbox with bonus maps! With 22 regular subway lines plus 3 shuttle lines these just go back and forth between two points , you also need to figure out which line is best to take each time you ride the subway. Find your current location on the map and determine where you are trying to go in relation to your current position.
Most city maps whether printed or online will show the closest subway stations. Look for the stations near you and check which subway line s would get your closest to where you need to go.
Leverage your smartphone while visiting NYC for step-by-step navigation. Google Maps provides just that, including detailed subway directions.
Touching a third rail results in electrocution. Subways can also run above ground; many subway lines run on elevated tracks at some point on their routes. At this point they are commonly referred to as the El for elevated train. An example of this would be the number 6 subway line in New York City. In midtown Manhattan it is called the subway, but in Harlem and the Bronx it is the El, even though it is the same train in both places. Subway trains are driven by operators, or conductors, who sit in a booth at the front of the train and use a handheld device similar to a video game joystick to operate the train.
Infrared sensors, capacitance plates or short-circuits created by the cars' wheels can let a signal know when a train is present.
That signal can communicate with adjacent signals, ensuring that two trains do not try to occupy the same section of track at the same time. Some signals also use physical mechanisms to make sure drivers obey them.
For example, some signals can physically activate an emergency brake on a subway train if the driver continues past a stop signal. In the original New York City subway tunnels, drivers had to use a key to reset stop signals before they could proceed. The term keying by , still used in some signal situations, comes from this procedure.
A few early subways used steam engines , but in most existing subways, the trains, tunnel lights and station equipment all run on electricity. Overhead wires or an electrified rail known as the third rail supplies power to the trains.
The third rail lies outside or between the subway tracks, and a wheel, brush or sliding shoe carries the power from the rail to the train's electric motor. In the New York City subway system, the third rail carries volts of electricity, and the original lines required their own power plant to operate.
A series of cables and substations carried the electricity from the power plant to the third rail. Electrical power also controls the subway's ventilation system. Street numbering increases as you go further north, while avenue numbering increases as you go further west:. This grid system is not perfect. For instance, 4th Ave is named Park Ave for most of its stretch and the grid system does not really exist below 14th St for historical reasons.
The rectangular area that streets and avenues create in between are referred to as blocks and are also often used as a colloquial measure of distance. You might hear "the subway station is two blocks east" or "I have to walk three blocks to get to work". Because blocks are rectangular in shape, blocks can be "short blocks" if you walk north-south along an avenue or "long blocks" if you walk east-west along a street.
Long blocks are also referred to as crosstown blocks. It takes about 1 minute to walk a short block or minutes to walk a long block. Keep this concept in mind as it will help you find subway stations and navigate maps.
While Uptown, Midtown, and Downtown are geographic regions of Manhattan, the words uptown and downtown can also mean the direction of travel.
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