Subway line grades - which are the best and worst?

[Isaiah Billings]

Yo I'm here to talk about one thing that makes NYC special - subways. Here, in my opinion, are the ratings of all subway lines to commute on, and my reasoning why:
A train: C+
This train is the longest of all lines, going from Inwood-207 st in Upper Manhattan to Far Rockaway Beach in Queens. But length doesn't equal convenience. This "express" train frequently has delays, and also crawls below 20mph while passing local stops. Giving it C+ because it goes from 125 st-59 st in one stop and is sometimes pretty fast.
B train: B
This train gets the grade of its letter, because it's a nice, fast express on Sixth Avenue and Brighton Line. Between 34 and W4 it can reach 50mph, and on the Brighton Line it zips past local Q train stops. However, it also does make many stops between 59 st and 34 st that slows it down. This would be good enough for an A-, but it doesn't run on weekends so it gets a B.
C train: B
This local train has similar problems to its express counterpart, the A train, but it's local so it gets a bit of a pass for being slow.
D train: B+
The D isn't bad. It's similar to the B, they're both Orange Line trains, but the D is a bit better. It runs on weekends, and it's express from 125 st to 59 st. Fast on Central Park West, Sixth Avenue, and Fourth Avenue. Problem is, between Coney Island and 36 st it's slow as a snail.
E train: A-
The E train is good. It zips you through Queens in a few stops, and then goes to Manhattan. It's one of the few connector trains that can get you quickly from Manhattan to far out Queens. It's terminal at WTC just feels a bit short, however.
F train: A-
The F is like the E, it's a great connector train between Manhattan and Queens. It also goes farther than Manhattan, which I'd nice. However, below W4 it's pretty slow, so it gets an A-.
G train: A-
I have only taken the G train once, a long time ago. According to other forums, New Yorkers seem to like it. If I rode this train myself I'd have more to say about it.
J train: C-
J for joke. Its a slow local train, and there are many better alternatives to get between downtown Manhattan and that part of Brooklyn, like the A(yeah it's not bad in Brooklyn and its express), L, and others.
L train: A
This is one of the best rated trains according to survey, often being New Yorkers' favorite, being pretty clean as well. Only thing is, it frequently runs every 20 minutes on weekends.
M train: B-
It's a slow local, but it's reliable enough.
N train: B
Weekdays, this train is pretty nice. Broadway/Fourth Avenue Express, it's nice and fast. It's faster than most trains on the Sea Beach line to Coney Island. Weekends, though, are a different story. It frequently goes slow and is local on Broadway.
Q train: A-
I've frequently heard people say the Q was the best, and it is good. In Manhattan it's great. It runs express on Broadway even on weekends, unlike the N. Brooklyn, though, is not so great. I took it to Coney Island a few days ago and it seemed to stop every five feet and go so slow. Overall though, good train.
R train: B-
The few times I've ridden this train it's been only okay, and when I ask other New Yorkers "Is the R train consistent?", they say "Yes, it's consistently bad."
W train: B+
The W isn't so bad, but it's a bit slow and it also ends at Whitehall St which is too short.
Z train: Z
Z for zero. Zero speed. Zero service. Zero consistency. I mean, a rush-hour only train? What? Not even local during non rush-hour, just not running at all?
1 train: A+
The 1 is AWESOME. It's the train I take, and it is literally the perfect local. It stops not too much but frequently enough to get you where you need to go. It has a healthy speed of around 35-40 mph, and is VERY frequent and consistent. It also goes farther up to the Bronx, which the A doesn't. If you live in Upper Manhattan(which I do) and have a choice between 1 and A, take the 1!
2 train: A+
The 2 is the optimal express. It goes faster than any other train, and I have recorded it going 65mph. It usually goes 50-55 or even 50-60 mph in the express portion from 96 st to Chambers st. It'll take you there in 10-15 minutes, 5 stops. WOW. In Bronx/Brooklyn it's a local like the 1, stops more but is consistent, fast, and reliable.
3 train: A+
The 3 is basically a mirror image of the 2, it's the same lightning-speed express in Manhattan and reliable local in Brooklyn. It doesn't go to the Bronx, but this also makes it less crowded which is nice.
4 train: A-
On paper the 4 is probably the fastest train in NYC. It stops very little on Lexington Avenue and is even express in Brooklyn. However, it has problems like delays and crowdedness, making it a good express, but not as good as the 2/3.
5 train: B+
The 5 runs on the same line as the 4 for most of its route, so why is it rated lower? Well, I've heard some people say the 5 is really bad, which I haven't heard about the 4 for some reason.
6 train: A-
This is a nice local, and reliable, but it's not super fast. It's good though.
7 train: A+
Optimal local, just like the 1. It's not quite as fast as the 1, but it's pretty fast, and it's a great connector train between Manhattan and Eastern Queens, along with the E and F. Not to mention it's pretty clean as well. Frequently listed as one of New Yorkers' favorites.
So that's it. All 22 subway lines, not including shuttles, AirTrains, or Staten Island Railway. What's your opinion? Respond in the comments below, and good luck commuting in NYC!

[CenSin]

On 6/29/2023 at 4:25 PM, Isaiah Billings said:

it also does make many stops between 59 st and 34 st that slows it down. This would be good enough for an A-

You ding points for a train that opens its doors to provide service? lol

But you give your home line a pass:

On 6/29/2023 at 4:25 PM, Isaiah Billings said:

The 1 is AWESOME. It's the train I take, and it is literally the perfect local. It stops not too much but frequently enough to get you where you need to go. It has a healthy speed of around 35-40 mph, and is VERY frequent and consistent. It also goes farther up to the Bronx, which the A doesn't. If you live in Upper Manhattan(which I do) and have a choice between 1 and A, take the 1!

 

[Kamen Rider]

Yeah, this reeks of bias.

the Z exists as a skip stop. If you were old enough to remember the 9, you’d see the logic.

as for the rest…

a lot of what you take as factual issues are subjective ones.

you rates the 5 as worse than the 4 just on other people complaining about it.

people complain all the time about everything, even the problems they themselves cause…

[B35 via Church]

An A+ for the ?

Y'all gotta stop grocery shopping in these weed dispensaries....

[4 via Mosholu]

2 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

An A+ for the ?

Y'all gotta stop grocery shopping in these weed dispensaries....

Some of these ratings are lies at worst; they're tomfoolery at best.

I have a list of ratings already written for a dozen lines that show what the real ratings are. As far as the #2 is concerned, it does have a fast express run along Malcolm X and Broadway-7 Avenue (when it doesn't have to go through Mosholu and 4 Avenue).

[B35 via Church]

1 hour ago, 4 via Mosholu said:

Some of these ratings are lies at worst; they're tomfoolery at best.

I have a list of ratings already written for a dozen lines that show what the real ratings are. As far as the #2 is concerned, it does have a fast express run along Malcolm X and Broadway-7 Avenue (when it doesn't have to go through Mosholu and 4 Avenue).

I saw those little ratings of his & I'm like come on, no 7th av rider worth their salt would rate all 3 lines a] the same, and b] specifically an A+...

Interesting how "length doesn't equal convenience" for the , but length apparently isn't a problem for the .... How can anyone say & believe with a straight face that the here in Brooklyn is consistent, fast & reliable? .... The only part of that that's accurate is the consistent part - consistently delayed, and slogs through Brooklyn like crazy... To take a page out of his book (which I actually agree with, as far as the vs. the in upper Manhattan),

If you live in the middle of Brooklyn (like I do) and have a choice between the 2 & the Q, take the Q... It gets to you Manhattan significantly quicker, and with less headache on top of it....

===========================

To sum this up, you can't get more "mid" than the .... The sucks for similar reasons the does.... The is still above average, but not to the level where anyone should be waxing poetic, on some, ZoMG this line is (as he puts it) "AWESOME"

[Theli11]

On 6/29/2023 at 4:25 PM, Isaiah Billings said:

Z for zero. Zero speed. Zero service. Zero consistency. I mean, a rush-hour only train? What? Not even local during non rush-hour, just not running at all?

ZERO SPEED?! ZERO CONSISTENCY? The might be the train that runs the most on-time 6 trains in one direction a day and about 48 minutes from end to end. I'm not saying the is the cream of the crop but there's many reasons to hate the  for everything that it stands for and i don't think speed is one of them. 

 

On 6/29/2023 at 4:25 PM, Isaiah Billings said:

4 train: A-
On paper the 4 is probably the fastest train in NYC. It stops very little on Lexington Avenue and is even express in Brooklyn. However, it has problems like delays and crowdedness, making it a good express, but not as good as the 2/3.
5 train: B+
The 5 runs on the same line as the 4 for most of its route, so why is it rated lower? Well, I've heard some people say the 5 is really bad, which I haven't heard about the 4 for some reason.

The and the  only have the issue of overcrowded-ness and the just has the issue of merging with the . If you ever need to go downtown from Grand Concourse I'd always tell them to take the or unless they really need to be on the West Side. 

 

On 6/29/2023 at 4:25 PM, Isaiah Billings said:

The F is like the E, it's a great connector train between Manhattan and Queens. It also goes farther than Manhattan, which I'd nice. However, below W4 it's pretty slow, so it gets an A-.

The should get points off for being too long by your criteria. (You should take points off for the damn  not f**king around for more than 2 trips 

[darkstar8983]

Here’s my evaluation:

 - Grade of B+ due to its reliability overall. Running about 20 trains per hour and its reputation of being a fast speed local. When I have taken the train at 168 St from Work to Times Square, the  and  are almost comparable in terms of speed. What detracts from the grade is the inconsistency in rush hour service in the morning coming from the Bronx, but it could be a car shortage issue and the need to run as much service on the higher ridership corridor, leaving service north of 137 St inconsistent.

 - Grade of D due to infrequent service and delays. Scheduled service is okay (above average) but the interlockings screw everything up.

 - Grade of C+ due to infrequent service due to the need to run the  more often and the Rogers Av Junction. If it weren’t for the at-grade junctions, the line would have more consistent service.

 - Grade of C- due to infrequency of service and overcrowding. Part of the issue is due to the Rogers Junction, and the signal restrictions in the Union Square area limiting train capacity, in addition to the Utica Av terminal configuration.

 - Grade of D due to infrequency of the Bronx branches and Rogers Junction. The  service operation is one of the main contributors to the issues in the IRT in Brooklyn due to the Dyre Av Line connecting to the local tracks and the Nostrand Av line only connecting to the local track. The switching over to run the  really messes up operations

 - Grade of B due to service frequency on Lexington Av but points are lost due to infrequency of the local service on Pelham compared to the express, and the switching configurations at Parkchester

 - Grade of A- due to service reliability and frequency of express/local service each approximately every 4 minutes. Points are lost due to inflexibility of the route during service disruptions and constant construction

 - Grade of C- due to infrequency of service along the entire line. It seems like the Lefferts Blvd and Far Rockaway branches are treated as two separate services leaving service between 207 St and Rockaway Blvd infrequent and inconsistent. The lifting of the South Channel Bridge for marine traffic makes it worse. Sometimes just worth taking the  

 - Grade of B- due to average level of service. Points are detracted due to poor terminals at 145 St/Bedford Park Blvd and limited service hours. Also the route is instantly suspended soon as any hiccups happen anywhere in the B division.

 - Grade of C- due to bare minimum service levels and poor service consistency due to the need to run the  as often as possible. The only benefit is that recovery at terminals following late trains is easier to manage.

 - Grade of C due to average level of service. The only things I can ding this line on are the DeKalb interlocking and the merge at 59’St Columbus Circle. Service frequency could be better but ridership doesn’t seem to warrant it.

 - Grade of C- due to frequent CBTC related delays. Scheduled service is acceptable but only when it is run on-time. Weekend and evening service is haphazard at best.

 - Grade of D due to frequent CBTC delays, route length, poor reliability, frequent merges, and weekend service is much worse. The only thing helping the route is rolling stock.

 - Grade of B due to frequent service, but service sometimes is inconsistent due to merges with the . Quick recovery time at terminals. Rolling stock also boosts marks

 - Grade of C due to poor frequency of service. rush hour service is acceptable but should span a longer time frame than just one hour each way. Overall service is consistent but infrequent.

 - Grade of B- due to service frequency and high level of scheduled service. Issues involve overcrowding which cannot be addressed due to rolling stock and power limitations. A single issue screws up the entire line and recovery to regular service takes along time due to service schedule.

 - Grade of B- due to service inconsistency and short service span. What helps the route are rolling stock and route accessibility to popular hotspots, despite not being a direct route. Expanded service would improve its marks.

 - Grade of F due to poor service frequency, frequent mechanical breakdowns in rolling stock, interlockings (DeKalb Av, 34 St), overcrowding, vandalism. Weekend service is always pushed aside to schedule frequent  and  trains.

 - Grade of D due to poor service frequency. Scheduled service is okay on average but more often than not, mechanical breakdowns and route inflexibility contributes to extensive delays and complete routes of trains on Brighton to 4 Av/Sea Beach or West End.

 - Grade of D due to inconsistent service levels due to heavy merging. Rolling stock boosts its grade from a likely D-/F, but merges and poor service levels take away from it.

 

let me know what you think 

[RTOMan]

Heh yall thought the  was bad in queens on the  wait till August when they shut down 63rd Street Full time...

ikeys will see 57th street all the time during the weekdays...

[Isaiah Billings]

On 7/1/2023 at 3:04 PM, B35 via Church said:

I saw those little ratings of his & I'm like come on, no 7th av rider worth their salt would rate all 3 lines a] the same, and b] specifically an A+...

Interesting how "length doesn't equal convenience" for the , but length apparently isn't a problem for the .... How can anyone say & believe with a straight face that the here in Brooklyn is consistent, fast & reliable? .... The only part of that that's accurate is the consistent part - consistently delayed, and slogs through Brooklyn like crazy... To take a page out of his book (which I actually agree with, as far as the vs. the in upper Manhattan),

If you live in the middle of Brooklyn (like I do) and have a choice between the 2 & the Q, take the Q... It gets to you Manhattan significantly quicker, and with less headache on top of it....

===========================

To sum this up, you can't get more "mid" than the .... The sucks for similar reasons the does.... The is still above average, but not to the level where anyone should be waxing poetic, on some, ZoMG this line is (as he puts it) "AWESOME"

I'm not saying that longer train lines are less convenient, I'm just saying that they're not more convenient. Length and convenience are basically independent.

[randomnewyorker23]

How is the  a B- ?? i heard QBL service is TRASH on weekends and brooklyn service is AWFUL

 

also how is the  also a B, I heard CPW Local riders SUFFER on weekends because there’s no  to come to the rescue.

 

I also heard that the  is terrible during late nights because it makes 61 stops and it’s infrequent.

 

This ranking is biased as hell. 

 

 

Also is the belief that if it’s in the area take the IRT/number lines true, or is that just a myth?

Edited July 5, 2023 by randomnewyorker23

[Chris89292]

50 minutes ago, randomnewyorker23 said:

How is the  a B- ?? i heard QBL service is TRASH on weekends and brooklyn service is AWFUL

 

also how is the  also a B, I heard CPW Local riders SUFFER on weekends because there’s no  to come to the rescue.

 

I also heard that the  is terrible during late nights because it makes 61 stops and it’s infrequent.

 

This ranking is biased as hell. 

 

 

Also is the belief that if it’s in the area take the IRT/number lines true, or is that just a myth?

I think these opinions are on overall service not just late night and weekend service

[CenSin]

2 hours ago, Isaiah Billings said:

I'm not saying that longer train lines are less convenient, I'm just saying that they're not more convenient. Length and convenience are basically independent.

Perhaps a solid rubric by which you judge all lines fairly might prove your point?

[Nitro]

On 7/1/2023 at 8:26 AM, Kamen Rider said:

Yeah, this reeks of bias.

the Z exists as a skip stop. If you were old enough to remember the 9, you’d see the logic.

as for the rest…

a lot of what you take as factual issues are subjective ones.

you rates the 5 as worse than the 4 just on other people complaining about it.

people complain all the time about everything, even the problems they themselves cause…

The 4 is worse compared to the 5 it's always cramped at 149th Street–GC, 161st, Fordham Road, & Mosholu Parkway.

[Vulturious]

I forgot to give my input on this so might as well rate all the stuff I experienced:

 - 7/10, both of these are pretty much the same, I don't ride them or the IRT in general. It's a nice ride, but it can be sometimes slow. 

 - 8/10, like the , they're both the same. I have a better experience with them probably because they're both express especially in Brooklyn. Rode to Flatbush and the  was such a time-saver, I don't know what kind of experience certain people in the Transit Community have when riding the . Only thing I can think of or mention when it comes to the  is it's got the R142A's running around, they could use a wash and maybe better maintenance.

 - 9/10, I have yet to experience something bad about this line, I've only ever riden the local, but it's quick. Sucks that it's crowded sometimes, pretty much the only thing holding it back, especially being an IRT line.

 - 8/10, rating aside, this piece of shit angers me because I find this running around more often compared to the  which is a full time line while the  is supplement. Outside of that, I have yet to experience terrible service riding this line, I've only rode it in Manhattan and as far as Atlantic Av in Brooklyn to and from Manhattan. 

 - 5/10, I wish I could rate this higher, it's got a good routing, my home line, but doesn't run nearly as often as it should. Things have only become more consistent recently with this line, but still annoying to deal with overall because those games are still too big. There are times when even the  is running more often than this. Even more annoying that the  just recently been announced to have better scheduling so there's that. Other lines that replace the  have better experiences than it like whenever the  or more recently the  have been running along it in Brooklyn. I will definitely miss the R68's when NTT's are replacing them at Concourse Yard. 

 - 7/10, I got nothing much to say really, only issue I have is sometimes it doesn't show up or running as often as it should, haven't experienced it post-covid as much as so maybe things are different.

 - 7/10, pre-covid, I haven't had issues with catching this line or at least waiting long. Post-covid, especially after the swap, it's definitely taken a rather big dip. I do tend to have to wait a bit, for one, but not nearly as often compared to the . At least with the recent schedule changes with the , maybe it'll run better, but seeing as the R46's are going to stay for a while it might not change much.

 - 7/10, I don't take this line often, but at least it shows up. It's slow these days for obvious reasons, but it's decent enough to not be bothered by it much.

 - 5/10, god I really hate this line, seriously why hasn't anything much been done with this line? It's atrocious in Brooklyn, for the longest time this was the line as a kid I rarely ever felt like riding because of how often it shows up. Yet surprisingly sometimes shows up more often than the  (I had a love-hate relationship with that line). The only thing that made it bearable was riding the R46 and R160, the long distance between stations in Brooklyn was nice and felt nice to say the least. I just really, really, really hope something is actually done to help this line someway somehow. Sure it's got CBTC in Queens, but I don't even ride QBL, my worry is Brooklyn. Manhattan is oddly decent, but that's only because of how rare I take it. The R160's help a little, but still annoying. 

 - 7/10, much like the , the , and the , the  is decent to say the least, though I rarely ride it these days. Oddly enough, I catch this during rush hours in Brooklyn and even in Manhattan when I need to take a local train. Nothing much to say about that, but I do remember when this line dominated West End due to the Manhattan Bridge reconstruction. In terms of equipment, nothing much was different, but I had good memories riding it, same when the  was around so I have my bias to this.

[Abnormal]

On 7/5/2023 at 5:23 PM, randomnewyorker23 said:

How is the  a B- ?? i heard QBL service is TRASH on weekends and brooklyn service is AWFUL

 

also how is the  also a B, I heard CPW Local riders SUFFER on weekends because there’s no  to come to the rescue.

 

I also heard that the  is terrible during late nights because it makes 61 stops and it’s infrequent.

 

This ranking is biased as hell. 

 

 

Also is the belief that if it’s in the area take the IRT/number lines true, or is that just a myth?

As a CPW rider, I can confirm that this is false. Sure, you may wait 14 minutes occasionally but the C does come. The B sucks on CPW. Usually 2 Cs come before that shows up.