The New York City Subway has a tricky nomenclature, revolving around the terms “line” and “service”. The lines are the physical tracks where the trains run, whereas the services (or “routes”) are the paths that the trains use along the lines. Each service is assigned a letter or a number, and a color (which, with few exceptions, derives from the main line that the service uses in Midtown Manhattan). The 24 services are the following, divided by color:

• sunflower yellow: N, Q and R;
• tomato red: 1, 2 and 3;
• light slate gray: L;
• lime green: G;
• vivid blue: A, C, E;
• raspberry: 7 and 7-diamond;
• apple green: 4, 5, 6 and 6 diamond;
• terra cotta brown: J and Z;
• dark slate gray: S (two different services: the Franklin Avenue and Rockaway Park shuttles);
• bright orange: B, D, F and M.

This June 2010 New York City Subway map was kindly sent to me by Stephanie A. from New York.

New Tork City Subway map, June 2010