History: The New York City Subway, United States

• Platforms
A typical subway station has waiting platforms ranging from 500 to 600 feet (150 to 180 m) long. Due to the large number of transit lines, one platform or set of platforms often serve more than one service. Passengers need to look at the overhead signs at the platform entrance steps and over each track to see which trains stop there and when, and at the arriving train to see which one it is.
There are a number of common platform configurations:
- On a double track line, a station may have one center island platform used for trains in both directions, or 2 side platforms, one for a train in each direction.