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Background[edit]

Wikipedia's naming convention is that:

Article naming should prefer what the majority of English speakers would most easily recognize, with a reasonable minimum of ambiguity, while at the same time making linking to those articles easy and second nature.

Also:

Names of Wikipedia articles should be optimized for readers over editors; and for a general audience over specialists.

Applying these guidelines to New York City Subway station and station complex names poses several difficulties. Station names can be found:

There are many stations for which these sources are in conflict, and many station names have changed over time. Consequently, there are many stations and station complexes for which more than one reasonable name exists.

There is a consensus among Wikipedia editors that the official MTA New York City Subway map—specifically, the most recent PDF version of the map as published on the MTA website ("The Map" (PDF).), and subsequently printed and disseminated in paper form—is the primary source for station and station complex names. While other sources have claims to authority, The Map is the most readily available authoritative source that shows every station and is up-to-date. This is the source of the names by which the MTA refers its station, even when in conflict with the names previously printed or posted elsewhere.

In some cases The Map is ambiguous, and there are some additional guidelines to follow. But the principal guideline is to use The Map. All other rules are just details or special cases that flow from this principle.

Naming convention[edit]

Terminology

A New York City Subway station is a facility on one line providing one or more platforms where trains can stop, and passengers can board or alight. A station complex is a similar facility served by two or more lines, where free transfers between the lines are available.

Note: A line is a physical structure, over which one or more services may be offered. For example, the IRT Lexington Avenue Line is a line, while the 4, 5, and 6 trains are services that operate on that line (as well as other lines). See New York City Subway nomenclature.

For the purposes of this guideline, the canonical name of a station or station complex is the principal name that is used in the article title and other places where the correct full name is required. The term "canonical name" is not used anywhere in subway literature. It is just a term used for clarity within this guideline.

Stations

For stations, the canonical name is the name shown on The Map, with the following differences:

Station complexes

Many station complexes appear on The Map with a single name in bold, in which case the rule for naming the complex is the same as if it were a single station.

Where a station complex appears on The Map as a combination of two streets or landmarks, or is an intersection where each platform has a different name, the canonical name consists of the two streets or landmarks separated by a slash. For example, Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal.

Generally, a street name comes before a landmark. For example, Franklin Avenue/Botanic Garden. A more important street is generally named first. For example, Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street.

Editors have not reached a clear consensus about when to create a single article describing a station complex. Some editors prefer to see a single article to describe any set of stations within common fare control, no matter how tenuous the connection between them. Other editors believe that originally separate stations that have maintained a distinct physical identity should not be described in the same article, even though there may be passageways connecting them.

Most editors believe that if a complex is clearly portrayed with a single name or a single "dot" on The Map, then it should be the subject of a single article. In other cases, a combined article should not be created unless an unambiguous name can be agreed upon that would be reasonably clear to the general reader.

Usage[edit]

Article names and section names

Article names follow the WP:USSTATION guideline. The name of an article describing a station or station complex takes the form <station canonical name> station, such as 14th Street–Union Square station. If the resulting title is ambiguous, it takes a qualifier of the form (<IRT/BMT/IND> <line name>), such as 103rd Street station (IRT Lexington Avenue Line) for 103rd Street on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line. In cases where a complex's name is ambiguous, it takes the qualifier (New York City Subway), such as Canal Street station (New York City Subway).

Where the stations within a station complex need to be described individually, each should have its own section within the station complex article. The name of each such section takes the form <Line> platform(s). For instance, within the article for the 14th Street–Union Square station complex are sections named IRT Lexington Avenue Line platforms, BMT Broadway Line platforms, and BMT Canarsie Line platform. This facilitates linking directly to the section or to redirects such as 14th Street–Union Square station (IRT Lexington Avenue Line). For instance, when a reader of the IRT Lexington Avenue Line article clicks on the link to 14th Street–Union Square, the link goes directly to the applicable section in the station complex article.

Other usages requiring the canonical name

The following usage cases should always employ the canonical name:

Within narrative text

Within narrative text, an editor may refer to a station by a shortened version of the canonical name. A particularly long name, such as 81st Street–Museum of Natural History, need not be used any more than once in the same discussion; thereafter, "81st Street" will suffice. In free-text passages, editors should not be pedantic about names, and should write for readability (while, of course, being careful not to introduce confusion).

An article describing the history of a service or line may refer to a station by the name it had during the period under discussion. Any potentially confusing name changes should be explained, but trivial changes need not be explained. For example, it is not necessary to point out that "Grand Central–42nd Street" is also known as "42nd Street–Grand Central."

Additional guidelines for station complexes

The link to a station that is part of a complex should be constructed as if the station were in its own article. For example:

In each case, the former is a redirect to a section within the latter.

Within station listing tables and infoboxes, refer to a station by the canonical name it would have if it were in its own article. For example, any article about the BMT Canarsie Line should refer to its Manhattan terminus as "Eighth Avenue," not "14th Street–Eighth Avenue."

Dash usage

Where the canonical name includes a dash, the correct form is the en-dash ("–"). See Wikipedia:Manual of Style (dashes). The article name should use the en-dash, but a redirect should be provided from an alternative name constructed with plain hyphens.

For any name (station or line) that requires an en dash, even if there is a space within one or both of the elements, the en dash is unspaced, per the WP:MOSDASH guideline (however, many articles still bear names with spaced dashes, as required by older versions of the guideline). Similarly slashes should be unspaced (though many are currently spaced).

Renaming and merging articles[edit]

Changing the name of a station or station complex is inherently disruptive. Even for local stations that have only one service, there are likely over half-a-dozen usages that require the canonical name, all of which must be changed. For a complicated station, there could be twenty or more changes to make. In addition, all double redirects referring to the station must be changed to single redirects. Some station articles have gone through many name changes, and have a large number of redirects pointing to them.

Combining separate articles into a "station complex" article, or splitting apart a station complex previously created, is similarly disruptive.

As derived from Wikipedia:Moving a page and Wikipedia:Merging, the following procedures should be followed before the name of a station or station complex is changed, or when a station complex article is proposed to be created or split apart:

The purpose of a comment period is to ensure that the proposed change is consistent with this guideline—or, if it departs from the guideline, that there is a compelling reason given. Unilateral changes that do not comply with this guideline may be speedily reverted, with a reference to this guideline provided in the edit summary.

As with all Wikipedia guidelines, there will inevitably be cases that the guideline does not address perfectly. Name changes that are very obviously compliant with this guideline may be implemented after the times given above, as long as there has been no significant objection. Changes involving a departure from this guideline, or where the name is a "judgment call" (e.g., a station complex), should generally not be made unless there is a very clear consensus in favor.

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