In the New York City Subway there are several types of transfer stations:
A station complex is where two or more stations are connected with a passageway inside fare control. There are stations of the New York City Subway when each station is counted separately. When station complexes are counted as one station each, the count of stations is . Station serving two or more lines. It may be a multi-level or adjacent-platform station and is considered to be one station as classified by the MTA. Typically each track in a station belongs to a certain line. Station serving two or more services. Different services may share tracks. These stations are not included in this article; see List of New York City Subway stations.For example, the 145th Street (IND Eighth Avenue Line) station is included, because its two levels are considered parts of two different lines, while the 125th Street (IND Eighth Avenue Line) station, serving the same set of services, is not included, because all its tracks belong to one line.
Transfers are not limited to enclosed passageways. The New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA), manager of the New York City Subway, also offers limited free transfers between subway lines that allow passengers to reenter the system's fare control. This was originally done through a paper ticketing system before it was replaced by the MetroCard. Now the only permanent MetroCard and OMNY subway-to-subway transfers are between the Lexington Avenue/59th Street complex () and the Lexington Avenue–63rd Street station () in Manhattan and between the Junius Street () and Livonia Avenue () stations in Brooklyn. The contactless OMNY fare payment system installed in 2019-2020 supports the same free transfers as the MetroCard does.
Some paper transfers between specific subway stations and bus routes also existed prior to July 4, 1997, when the MetroCard allowed free system-wide subway–bus transfers with fewer restrictions. The Rockaway Parkway station on the BMT Canarsie Line () offers a transfer to the B42 bus within the station's fare control, the only such transfer within the NYCTA. This transfer was removed in 2025 due to heavy fare evasion.
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Context
The system was created from the consolidation of three separate companies that merged in 1940: the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), and the Independent Subway System (IND). The earliest transfer stations were between lines of the same system: either the IRT, BMT or IND. The earliest free connection between lines that remains in existence is at Grand Central–42nd Street between the IRT Flushing Line and the original IRT subway (now served by the IRT 42nd Street Shuttle), which opened on June 22, 1915. Some stations were constructed with passageways that connected different systems, such as the original IRT subway's (now IRT Lexington Avenue Line) Brooklyn Bridge station with the BMT Centre Street Loop Subway's (now BMT Nassau Street Line) Chambers Street station. On July 1, 1948, post-unification, many free transfers between the former systems were created coincident with the doubling of the fare from five to ten cents.
The most recently created station complex is the Jay Street–MetroTech complex in Brooklyn on the IND Culver Line, IND Fulton Street Line and BMT Fourth Avenue Line; opened on December 8, 2010. The Court Square complex in Queens, which opened in 1988 as a connection between the IND Queens Boulevard and IND Crosstown lines, was expanded by adding a passageway to the IRT Flushing Line on June 3, 2011. A free transfer from to the uptown platform of opened on September 25, 2012. A transfer to the downtown platform has existed since May 19, 1957. A passageway between and opened on December 29, 2017, along with a connection to the World Trade Center Transportation Hub. A passageway between the Times Square–42nd Street and station complex, and the Bryant Park station complex, was built in 2021, along with a new platform at the shuttle station (both the platform and passageway are closed during late nights).
Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (14th Street and below)
Station complex Individual stations Lines Services Notes 14th Street/Sixth Avenue IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line The IND Sixth Avenue Line and BMT Canarsie Line were connected inside fare control in the late 1960s, and a passageway west to the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line opened on January 16, 1978. IND Sixth Avenue Line BMT Canarsie Line 14th Street/Eighth Avenue IND Eighth Avenue Line The transfer passageway between the IND Eighth Avenue Line and BMT Canarsie Line was placed inside fare control on July 1, 1948. BMT Canarsie Line 14th Street–Union Square BMT Broadway Line The BMT Broadway Line, BMT Canarsie Line, and IRT Lexington Avenue Line are linked by passageways at Union Square. The two BMT lines were connected on June 30, 1924, when the Canarsie Line opened.New York Times, 14th St. Subway to Open Tomorrow, June 29, 1924, page E1 A passageway to the IRT was placed inside fare control on July 1, 1948. BMT Canarsie Line IRT Lexington Avenue Line IRT Lexington Avenue Line A transfer passageway between the southbound IRT Lexington Avenue Line and both directions of the IND Sixth Avenue Line was placed inside fare control on May 19, 1957. The Bleecker Street uptown platform was remodeled to provide an easier transfer to/from the Broadway-Lafayette Street station and opened on March 26, 2012. The northbound transfer for the Lexington Avenue line opened on September 25, 2012, and the station became ADA-accessible. IND Sixth Avenue Line IRT Lexington Avenue Line These two adjacent stations on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line and BMT Nassau Street Line are connected by two passageways. The south one opened in 1914,Joseph Brennan, Abandoned Stations: Chambers St closed platforms, accessed April 23, 2007 and was placed inside fare control on July 1, 1948. A second passageway, at the north end of the stations, was opened in the evening of September 1, 1962, when the Lexington Avenue Line platforms were extended and the Worth Street station was closed.New York Times, New Platform for IRT Locals at Brooklyn Bridge to End Jams, September 1, 1962, page 42 BMT Nassau Street Line Canal Street (lower level – express) BMT Broadway Line The lower level of the BMT Broadway Line is linked to the upper level of the BMT Broadway Line, the IRT Lexington Avenue Line and the BMT Nassau Street Line via passageways. The three BMT stations were linked on September 4, 1917, when the Broadway Line opened. The IRT was connected on January 16, 1978. (upper level – local) BMT Broadway Line IRT Lexington Avenue Line BMT Nassau Street Line IND Eighth Avenue Line The two halves of the IND Eighth Avenue Line and the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line are connected by the IND Eighth Avenue Line's express platform. The connections were opened in the 1950s, before which none of the three parts, not even the two IND stations, were connected.The BMT Broadway Line was connected to the Eighth Avenue Line's local platform in 2017 via a passageway. BMT Broadway Line IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line IND Sixth Avenue Line A passageway between the IND Sixth Avenue Line and BMT Nassau Street Line was placed inside fare control on July 1, 1948. BMT Nassau Street Line Fulton Street/Fulton Center IND Eighth Avenue Line A complicated network of passageways connects four separate stations on the IND Eighth Avenue Line, IRT Lexington Avenue Line, BMT Nassau Street Line, and IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. The full transfer system here was formed on July 1, 1948. While the passageways between the Eighth Avenue, Nassau Street, and Broadway–Seventh Avenue platforms all existed at the time, and were simply placed inside fare control, a paper transfer to the Lexington Avenue Line was issued at first, until a new passageway was opened on August 25, 1950. In December 2010, the Eighth Avenue Line station's name was changed from Broadway–Nassau Street to Fulton Street. IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line IRT Lexington Avenue Line BMT Nassau Street Line Oculus BMT Broadway Line In November 2014, the Fulton Center opened, connecting the stations to Cortlandt Street outside of fare control, through the Dey Street Passageway. The BMT Broadway Line and IND Eighth Avenue Line stations at Cortlandt Street and World Trade Center were connected in 2017 via a passageway.IND Eighth Avenue LineIRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue LineOn September 8, 2018, the WTC Cortlandt station reopened, connecting the station to Cortlandt Street (BMT), World Trade Center (IND), and Fulton Center outside of fare control via the Dey Street Passageway and World Trade Center Transportation Hub.IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line A new passageway opened concurrently with the opening of the new South Ferry station on March 16, 2009.MTA Opens New South Ferry Station Retrieved March 16, 2009 This connects the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line with the Whitehall Street station on the BMT Broadway Line. BMT Broadway Line lower level IND Sixth Avenue Line The station became a transfer station when the Sixth Avenue Line opened in 1940. upper level IND Eighth Avenue Line
Former transfers
When the elevated IRT Third Avenue Line closed from Chatham Square to South Ferry on December 22, 1950, a paper transfer was given to the M15 bus route. The Third Avenue Line was closed in Manhattan on May 12, 1955, removing this transfer.
When the new "H" system was implemented on August 1, 1918, the Public Service Commission was unprepared for the heavy traffic using the 42nd Street Shuttle. The shuttle was closed for rebuilding at the end of August 3, and a paper transfer was added between Rector Street on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line and Wall Street on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line (the only one of the two lines to go to Brooklyn at that time).New York Times, Drop Shuttle Plan as Subway Crush Becomes a Peril, August 3, 1918, page 1 Shuttle service resumed on September 28, 1918, but the transfer remained, and was expanded to allow transfers from Wall Street on the Brooklyn Branch of the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, its temporary end.New York Times, Subway Shuttle Resumes Today, September 28, 1918 After the Brooklyn Branch was completed on April 15, 1919, the transfer was no longer needed.New York Times, Open Clark Street Line, April 16, 1919, page 18
There was never a free transfer between the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (outer) and IRT Lexington Avenue Line (inner) platforms at South Ferry. However, by 1960, night and weekend Lexington Avenue Line service (5 and 6 trains) stopped at the outer platform. This unadvertised transfer existed until 1977, when Lexington Avenue Line trains stopped running to South Ferry.Joseph Brennan, Abandoned Stations: Bowling Green & South Ferry platforms, accessed April 24, 2007
Midtown and Upper Manhattan