MTA offers vintage train rides for 110th anniversary

Nostalgic subway riders were given a treat on Sunday as the MTA celebrated the 110th anniversary of the NYC subway system with retro rides around the city.

Just days after ridership hit an all-time high, the MTA commemorated the latest milestone by re-opening vintage trains along the Broadway 123 Line between 96th St. and Times Sq-42nd St. The trains, including a low-voltage car and an intricately-designed “Train Of Many Colors.” The two are throwbacks to the city’s first subway line, which opened on October 27, 1904 and connected City Hall to Harlem.

“I’ve had such a good time riding the train. It was really cool to get on it and to experience what it used to be like. It’s very bumpy but it’s fun,” Sarah Colwell , 23, said, after getting off one of the vintage trains.

“More than 100 years ago, you could only take the subway for that one stretch in Manhattan,” said New York City Transit President Carmen Bianco. “Now we can get from the top of the Bronx to the beaches of Far Rockaway with just one swipe of a MetroCard. It’s remarkable how the system has evolved over the years.”

More trips are scheduled on the trains today between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., with classic trains leaving Times Square on the hour and from 96th Street at half past the hour. Customers do not have to pay extra to ride on the Nostalgia Trains.