Digital screens in subway stations will be giving out real-time service information, and soon, the screens will be inside train cars.

What You Need To Know


  • Riders are getting real-time service updates on digital screens in about 200 stations, as part of an MTA program called Mercury.

  • The MTA plans to double the number of stations with digital screens over the next year.

  • Train cars will also get digital screens with real-time service information.

The MTA created a new program called Mercury for most of its digital station screens that lets riders know when the next train is arriving, where it will go in case of a diversion, and where it will connect for transfers, with the information tailored to each station.

“We’ve never shown information like that before. It’s common on a railroad, but it’s new to a subway,” said Joseph Chain, senior director of digital content at NYC Transit. Chain helped develop the Mercury program, and said there’s never any guess work with the new technology.

It can be particularly helpful for late night travel now that the subway shuts down between 1 A.M. and 5 A.M. The last train of the night can depart a station well before the 1 A.M. shutdown.

It will also show each stop a train makes, even during subway diversions and weekend service changes.

“If this is a 5 running over the 2, it’ll show, and, in particular, the transfers as well are dynamic and up-to-date,” said Jay Sathe, a graphic designer at MTA. “This is as close we can get as a guarantee of what you’re going to be able to do on these trains.”

The MTA already has digital screens in about 200 stations. Officials plan to double that in a year. 

Thousands of digital screens will also be installed in train cars.