New York, beneath the surface

NYC subway history, 1904–2026

Explore 19 moments in New York subway history, from the first IRT line to later extensions, closures and reopenings. Each period links to an interactive map.

Start with the first subway

Meet the original 28 stations and follow the opening-day route through Manhattan.

Choose a year

These are selected year-end views. Each story covers the period since the preceding snapshot; the map is an approximate infrastructure reconstruction.

• 1904: The first subway opens

  On October 27, 1904, the IRT opened a 28-station subway from City Hall to 145th Street. This year-end map also includes surviving elevated infrastructure; its stop count is not the opening-day total.

• 1908: The subway reaches Brooklyn beneath the East River

  The Joralemon Street Tunnel opened for passengers on January 9, 1908, connecting the IRT subway in Manhattan with Brooklyn. It was the first underwater subway connection between the two boroughs.

• 1918: The Dual Contracts transform the network

  The city signed the Dual Contracts with the IRT and BRT in 1913. New lines and extensions spread rapid transit farther into the boroughs; the Manhattan IRT was reorganized into its east-side and west-side trunks in 1918.

• 1924: A new subway under 14th Street

  The first subway section of today’s Canarsie Line opened on June 30, 1924, from Sixth Avenue in Manhattan to Montrose Avenue in Brooklyn. The connection eastward to the existing elevated line followed in 1928.

• 1932: The city-built IND opens

  The Eighth Avenue subway opened on September 10, 1932, between 207th Street and Chambers Street. This was the first part of the city-operated Independent Subway System, alongside the existing IRT and BMT networks.

• 1936: Fulton Street gains an underground line

  The IND Fulton Street Line opened to Rockaway Avenue on April 9, 1936. Its underground route offered an alternative to the Fulton Street elevated above it.

• 1940: Three operators become one city system

  New York City took over the BMT on June 1 and the IRT on June 12, 1940, bringing them under public operation alongside the IND. Ownership changed before all of the physical connections between the systems did.

• 1948: The Fulton Street subway reaches Euclid Avenue

  On November 28, 1948, the Fulton Street subway extension opened through Liberty Avenue, Van Siclen Avenue and Shepherd Avenue to Euclid Avenue. These stops mark the postwar expansion eastward through Brooklyn.

• 1956: Subway trains reach the Rockaways

  Subway service began over the converted Rockaway railroad on June 28, 1956. The Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue terminal followed in January 1958, so it does not appear in this 1956 view.

• 1963: Closures change the original IRT

  Worth Street closed in 1962, after serving passengers since 1904. Move back to an earlier view to find the former station near Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall; its disappearance is one example of how the network changed without a new line opening.

• 1967: The Chrystie Street connection opens

  The Manhattan Bridge branch of the Chrystie Street Connection opened on November 26, 1967, joining BMT routes from Brooklyn to the IND Sixth Avenue Line. The Williamsburg Bridge branch followed in July 1968.

• 1972: Second Avenue construction begins

  Ground was broken for the Second Avenue Subway on October 27, 1972. Construction did not mean passenger service: this map shows operating infrastructure, so an unfinished tunnel does not appear as a new line.

• 1980: The network faces a maintenance crisis

  The 1970s brought financial pressure, service cuts and deteriorating subway infrastructure. An outline of the tracks cannot show reliability: a line remaining on the map did not mean that its passengers had a dependable journey.

• 1988: Archer Avenue opens in Jamaica

  The Archer Avenue lines opened on December 11, 1988. Jamaica Center and Sutphin Boulevard have platforms on two levels, with Jamaica–Van Wyck on the upper-level route.

• 1989: The 63rd Street line reaches Queens

  The 63rd Street subway opened on October 29, 1989, serving Lexington Avenue–63rd Street, Roosevelt Island and 21st Street–Queensbridge. Its connection to the Queens Boulevard Line would not open until 2001.

• 2000: The MetroCard changes the journey

  MetroCard testing began in 1993; the public rollout began in January 1994. Free bus–subway transfers followed in 1997 and unlimited-ride cards in 1998. These changes affected how people traveled without adding stations to the map.

• 2009: New South Ferry; Cortlandt partly reopens

  A new South Ferry terminal opened in March 2009. In November, the northbound platform at BMT Cortlandt Street reopened, so that station is present in this year-end view. The separate WTC Cortlandt station on the 1 line remained closed.

• 2017: Second Avenue service begins

  The first phase of the Second Avenue Subway opened on January 1, 2017, with new stations at 72nd, 86th and 96th Streets. South Ferry’s newer terminal also reopened in June 2017 after the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

• 2026: The current reference network

  WTC Cortlandt reopened on September 8, 2018, restoring the 1 train’s station at the World Trade Center. This latest view uses the MTA reference network; planned extensions and live service changes are not included.