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The days of graffiti-covered subway cars may be long gone, but today’s experience of riding the rails may not be so different from decades past.

As these rarely seen images show, yesterday’s commuters also fought overcrowded platforms, pushed their way onto trains before the doors closed and had lonely waits on the platform before the next train to arrive.

The images are from the 1960s, 70s and 80s. And the more you look, the more you’ll see echoes of your own present-day experience with the subway system. Whether that’s cause for lament is another point entirely.