Unless you're a native New Yorker, there's probably a lot you don't know about the New York City subway system. (And even if you are from here, you probably don't know everything that there is to know about it.)
Most New Yorkers use it every day, but the subway we know and love today is so radically different from the subway system of the past (although remnants of it still linger in our city.)
Get to know this city, so prepare to have some old school subway knowledge dropped on you. These are 5 incredible facts you might not know about the NYC subway.
1. The subway used to be made up of three private railway companies
They were called the IRD, BMT, and the IRT, which stands for Independent Rapid Transit Railroad, the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit, and the Interborough Rapid Transit.
These three companies operated their respective lines separately until 1953, although the division between lines is still visible today, as the numbered lines are the old IRT and the lettered lines are the old IND and BMT lines.
2. There used to be a V train
![[via levysuniqueny.com]](/2015/04/v-1024x683.jpg)
Actually, if you're a fan of the show Louie, you might have known this one, since the subway station Louis C.K. steps out of in the opening sequence of the show is the West 4th Street BDFV station.
The V train ran on the Sixth Avenue Line between Forest Hills, Queens and Second Avenue on the LES of Manhattan, but in 2009, it was merged with the M train-- which ultimately replaced the V on the Sixth Avenue line.
3. Elevated train service used to be bigger than it is today
Fun fact: only 60% of the NYC subway is made up of underground trains, meaning that a good percentage of it uses above ground or elevated trains. Back then, the elevated trains were called the El that rang along the Third and Sith Avenue Lines.
The IRT had an El along the Third Avenue Line that ran from the Bronx to Manhattan and a Sixth Avenue El that ran from Battery Park to Central Park South, both of which opened in 1878. There was also a Ninth Avenue El which both IRT lines were connected to on the north end.
Isn't it weird to imagine an above ground train running through famous neighborhoods in Manhattan, like the Bowery and Greenwich Village?
These elevated trains were largely abandoned and demolished throughout the twentieth century, with the last of the Third Avenue El closing up or being incorporated into different numbered lines in 1973.
,4. The subway fare used to be paid in tokens
And when the IRT first debuted in 1904, the cost for a ride on the IRT or its competitor lines was five cents, and it didn't increase in price until 1948, but it only went up to ten cents.
These days we can't even go two years without that steep twenty-five cent increase, so it's hard to imagine that for a time period of over forty years, the subway stayed the same price.
The payment for the subway was either loose change such as dimes or nickels or NYC subway tokens. Tokens were created in 1953 when all three subway lines were merged under the NYC Transit Authority at fifteen cents a ride. These special brass tokens were accepted up until 2003, even though the Metrocard was invented in 1993.
If you're ever wondering what these tokens looked like, they're not entirely lost. You can find them across the city or the web, or at the NYC Transit Museum in Brooklyn, as it still has an extensive collection.
5. The first underground train opened on October 27, 1904
Although the elevated trains had opened in the 1870s in the city, the first underground train line wouldn't open for another thirty-four years.
The first subway line was the IRT, and its southern end was the City Hall station in Lower Manhattan, which closed its tracks officially in 1945.
However, even though the old City Hall Station operates as a "ghost station" where the 6 trains on the Lexington Avenue lines can loop through to return back uptown after making its last stop at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station.
If you enjoyed this article, Discover More Amazing Secrets of the NYC Subway!