Unused New York City Subway service labels

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An R62A car in Corona Yard displays a 12 sign in the apple green color representing the IRT Lexington Avenue Line.

The New York City Subway currently uses various letters and numbers to designate the routes that trains use over the differing lines in the system. Along with the color corresponding to the route's trunk line, these form a unique identifier for the route, easing navigation through the complex system. Several service labels have either been phased out or never been used. This list covers the labels not used as of July 2014.

A Division numbers[edit]

An R62/R62A-class car operating on the 42nd Street Shuttle erroneously shows an upside down 11 sign instead of the usual gray-backgrounded S for shuttles. The purple color currently corresponds to the IRT Flushing Line.

The A Division uses single-digit numbers for each route. Currently numbers 1 through 7 are in use.

Two-digit numbers have never been used by the A Division, but have been seen on the current rollsigns of some trains, paired with colors used with other services. It is likely that these were assigned arbitrarily, for use if the MTA changed the additional rush hour express service designators from a "diamond" version of the regular number to a separate number.

Two-digit bullets include:

All of these two-digit bullets can be seen in R62A rollsigns.

B Division letters[edit]

Trains of the B Division use single letters of the English alphabet. These service letters are unused as of May 2013, but some have been used or proposed for services at various points in time:


Prior to 1985, the B Division used two-letter combinations to indicate differing variations of similar services, but these were phased out in favor of single-letter designators.[7] These former service names are covered in their corresponding current letters.

The letters H, K, V and W can be seen on the side rollsigns of the older subway cars, with colors paired to the last primary trunk line they were assigned to. The letters P, T, U, X and Y can also be seen on R32 side rollsigns as a black letter inside a white circle.[10]

See also[edit]