New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority celebrated the subway's 110th anniversary Monday, offering locals and visitors rides on some of the most intriguing train cars of the past.
The first subway line in the city opened on Oct. 27, 1904, with 28 stations run by privately owned companies. The MTA now runs 468 stations, most of them built by 1940. Although new stations are rare, construction both to expand the network and to maintain the current system is a constant.
"The first train ran north from City Hall to 145th Street and Broadway," the MTA wrote. "The system that now benefits 5.8 million daily customers sprang from a single line that didnt leave the confines of Manhattan."
The two vintage cars brought out for the anniversary were the Low-Voltage train, which was in service through the 1960s, and the Train of Many Colors, which has R33 and R36-subway cars. Those were used from the 60s all the way until 2001.
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A century later, the subway system is as popular as ever. Daily ridership broke the six-million mark on five separate days in September, according to the MTA.
The annual ridership record was set in 1946, when 2.07 billion passengers used the system. But it isn't doing too badly now on an annual basis, either: 1.7 billion passengers rode the rails in 2013, the highest figure since 1949.
Anniversaries aren't the only times the MTA takes the vintage cars out of retirement. So if you missed a ride on the vintage cars Monday, keep an eye out for others around Christmas time.
