To get to the Central Subway from the Powell Street Station, one must walk down a long corridor, down a long ramp, down to a bank of escalators. This long walk was necessary because the closest Central Subway Station was at Union Square.

At the bottom of the escalators was the Union Square Central Subway Station.

A view from the top of the escalators, illustrating how far underground the Central Subway was.

The platform at the Union Square Central Subway Station was short because it could only accommodate two car trains. The directions, "northbound" and "southbound" were atop the arrival signs.