{"id":4413,"date":"2017-05-10T20:50:41","date_gmt":"2017-05-11T00:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=4413"},"modified":"2017-05-10T20:50:41","modified_gmt":"2017-05-11T00:50:41","slug":"new-york-subway-track-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/05\/new-york-subway-track-map\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Subway Track Map"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Last year I told you about\u00a0Andrew Lynch’s posters of individual New York subway lines<\/a>. Now Lynch has\u00a0created something that will be of interest to anyone who likes the London Underground’s track network map<\/a> or Franklin Jarrier’s detailed rail maps<\/a>: a geographically accurate subway track map for New York City<\/a>, which can be downloaded as a\u00a0PDF here<\/a>.\u00a0He describes how he went about making it (with apologia that sound like standard mapmaking compromises):<\/p>\n

Collecting every historical map I could find, using GIS data, satellite imagery (both current and historic), YouTube videos of fan trips, my own observations looking out the window of trains through tunnels, and talking to retired track workers I was able to draw what I believe to be the most accurate track map of the NYC Subway ever. Features I\u2019ve added to the map are all provisions for future expansion and abandoned sections with a notes section explaining each one as well as an exploded view for the more complex stations and areas obscured by overlapping tracks. I\u2019ve elected to remove all streets as not to clutter the map and also not to imply that specific sections (such as crossovers) are perfectly aligned to the street grid. While the map is geographically accurate at this scale tracks had to be spaced far enough apart to read correctly so lines are not perfect aligned with the widths of the streets. Also some train yards have been truncated to fit within the geographical boundaries of the map.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Previously: New York Subway Line Posters<\/a>; A Map of the London Underground Track Network<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last year I told you about\u00a0Andrew Lynch’s posters of individual New York subway lines. Now Lynch has\u00a0created something that will be of interest to anyone who likes the London Underground’s track network map or Franklin… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[194],"class_list":["post-4413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-transit","tag-new-york-city","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1787813,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/09\/the-new-york-subway-map-gets-more-rethinking\/","url_meta":{"origin":4413,"position":0},"title":"The New York Subway Map Gets More Rethinking","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"24 September 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"John Tauranac is having second thoughts. Tauranac is the former MTA map designer whose committee replaced Massimo Vignelli\u2019s diagrammatic subway map with a more geographical one in 1979; that map, with modifications and updates, is still in use today. He now thinks the map needs an overhaul, according to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Transit"","block_context":{"text":"Transit","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/transit\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/anh-nyc-subway-map-1024x219.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/anh-nyc-subway-map-1024x219.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/anh-nyc-subway-map-1024x219.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/anh-nyc-subway-map-1024x219.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1791889,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2021\/10\/the-new-york-subway-map-debate\/","url_meta":{"origin":4413,"position":1},"title":"The New York Subway Map Debate","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"13 October 2021","format":"link","excerpt":"Back in 1978, Massimo Vignelli and John Tauranac debated the future of New York\u2019s subway map. That debate\u2014which in many ways never quite ended\u2014is now the subject of a book coming out later this month. Edited by Gary Hustwit, The New York Subway Map Debate includes a full transcript of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Transit"","block_context":{"text":"Transit","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/transit\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The New York Subway Map Debate","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/ny-subway-map-debate-cover-250x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1838848,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/04\/new-york-city-subway-map-gets-a-complete-makeover\/","url_meta":{"origin":4413,"position":2},"title":"New York City Subway Map Gets a Complete Makeover","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"2 April 2025","format":"link","excerpt":"Marc A. Hermann\/MTA. CC licence. New York City\u2019s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has announced the first major redesign of its system map since 1979. The new map adopts a diagrammatic style, in common with most other transit maps around the world, for the first time since Massimo Vignelli\u2019s controversial (and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Transit"","block_context":{"text":"Transit","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/transit\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/mta-unveils-subway-map.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/mta-unveils-subway-map.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/mta-unveils-subway-map.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/mta-unveils-subway-map.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/mta-unveils-subway-map.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/mta-unveils-subway-map.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1805639,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2021\/12\/more-on-the-new-york-subway-map-debate\/","url_meta":{"origin":4413,"position":3},"title":"More on the New York Subway Map Debate","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"9 December 2021","format":"link","excerpt":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=p8OfC07sI8E This roundtable discussion about The New York Subway Map Debate, a book about the April 1978 Cooper Union debate over the design of the New York subway map (previously) and related subjects, featuring John Tauranac himself (who participated in the 1978 debate), alerted me to the fact that an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Transit"","block_context":{"text":"Transit","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/transit\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/p8OfC07sI8E\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1788119,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/12\/a-naive-look-at-new-yorks-subway-map\/","url_meta":{"origin":4413,"position":4},"title":"A Na\u00efve Look at New York\u2019s Subway Map","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"3 December 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"The New York Times does a deep dive into New York\u2019s current subway map: its design choices, its history, its quirks. It\u2019s more an animated slideshow than interactive map: each step takes us along a route, bouncing up and down (for example) where you\u2019d expect to walk. It\u2019s also completely\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Transit"","block_context":{"text":"Transit","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/transit\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/nyt-subway-interactive-1024x569.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/nyt-subway-interactive-1024x569.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/nyt-subway-interactive-1024x569.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/nyt-subway-interactive-1024x569.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1791914,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2021\/10\/new-yorks-mta-is-testing-a-new-subway-map\/","url_meta":{"origin":4413,"position":5},"title":"New York\u2019s MTA Is Testing a New Subway Map","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"17 October 2021","format":"link","excerpt":"The Wall Street Journal is reporting that New York\u2019s Metropolitan Transit Authority is experimenting with new network maps that adopt a diagrammatic design that harkens back to Massimo Vignelli\u2019s 1972 design, or (frankly) to designs used by most other transit systems. The new maps appear in nine subway stations side-by-side\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Transit"","block_context":{"text":"Transit","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/transit\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"MTA Customer Information Pilot Maps","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/mta-subway-diagram-pilot-1024x614.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/mta-subway-diagram-pilot-1024x614.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/mta-subway-diagram-pilot-1024x614.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/mta-subway-diagram-pilot-1024x614.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4413"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4415,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4413\/revisions\/4415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}