Which NYC Subway Line Is the Worst? Every Line Ranked
Report cards from MTA open data, October 2025 – September 2026, updated monthly · Not affiliated with the MTA
Pick a line
42 St Shuttle Franklin Av Shuttle Rockaway Park Shuttle 7 J/Z L G M 1 3 R 5 4 C D 6 A E Q F 2 N B
Every line ranked by on-time rate
October 2025 – September 2026. On time = reached the last stop within 5 minutes of schedule. Change is vs the 12 months before.
By on-time rate, the least reliable line is the B train: 72.2% of its trips reached the end of the line within 5 minutes of schedule (October 2025 – September 2026), compared with 82.9% for the whole subway. Apart from the short shuttles, the most reliable line is the 7 train, with 90% of trips on time.
| # | Line | On time | Change (pts) | 5+ min late | Top delay cause |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 42 St Shuttle | 99.8% | 0 | 0.8% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 2 | Franklin Av Shuttle | 99.3% | -0.1 | 5.1% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 3 | Rockaway Park Shuttle | 95.8% | +0.5 | 9.6% | External factors |
| 4 | 7 train | 90% | -1 | 10.5% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 5 | J/Z train | 88.5% | -0.4 | 18.8% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 6 | L train | 87.1% | -4.3 | 10.8% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 7 | G train | 86.8% | +3.4 | 18.9% | Planned row work |
| 8 | M train | 85.7% | -1.5 | 19.2% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 9 | 1 train | 84.6% | +0.9 | 10% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 10 | 3 train | 82.1% | +0.5 | 11.9% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 11 | R train | 81.9% | +1.5 | 17.2% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 12 | 5 train | 81.2% | -1 | 12.9% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 13 | 4 train | 80.2% | -1.9 | 12.2% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 14 | C train | 80% | +4.8 | 16.7% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 15 | D train | 78.3% | -0.8 | 20.5% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 16 | 6 train | 78% | -6.7 | 12.3% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 17 | A train | 77.9% | -3.1 | 17% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 18 | E train | 76.6% | -1.9 | 14.5% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 19 | Q train | 76.4% | -5 | 20.5% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 20 | F train | 74.3% | +2.4 | 18.5% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 21 | 2 train | 72.4% | +0.5 | 14.5% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 22 | N train | 72.4% | -4.8 | 19.1% | Infrastructure & equipment |
| 23 | B train | 72.2% | +3.2 | 21% | Infrastructure & equipment |
Why is the subway delayed?
The main causes of subway delays over the last 12 months were infrastructure & equipment (36%), planned row work (21%), police & medical (21%).
Questions
What is the worst subway line in NYC?
By on-time rate, the least reliable line is the B train: 72.2% of its trips reached the end of the line within 5 minutes of schedule (October 2025 – September 2026), compared with 82.9% for the whole subway.
What is the most reliable subway line in NYC?
Apart from the short shuttles, the most reliable line is the 7 train, with 90% of trips on time.
Why is the NYC subway delayed?
The main causes of subway delays over the last 12 months were infrastructure & equipment (36%), planned row work (21%), police & medical (21%).
How often is the NYC subway late?
Across the subway, 15% of trips took at least 5 minutes longer than scheduled, and riders waited on average 79 seconds longer on the platform than the schedule says.
More NYC transit data
- NYC subway ridership: Busiest stations, find your station and an animated subway map, updated daily.
- NYC congestion pricing: Zone map, hours, cost and daily data on whether it's working.
- NYC bus routes ranked: The busiest, slowest and least reliable buses, with a report card for each route.
Let's talk about transit data
Found something surprising about your station? Have a question the data could answer, or an idea for what to dig into next (congestion pricing, a train line, an event)? I'd love to hear it, and I'm always up for talking about transit data.
Data (data.ny.gov): Terminal On-Time Performance, Customer Journey-Focused Metrics, Trains Delayed, Wait Assessment, Major Incidents. Updated Oct 28, 2026. The MTA's own charts: metrics.mta.info.
Source code: github.com/MantieReid/mta-data-analysis · Analysis by Mantie Reid II (CC BY 4.0).