"It's really hard to describe what it's like to plan something for so long, and then not only to achieve it, but to break the record by such a solid margin," Bill Amarosa, 28, said after his team emerged from a train station in the Bronx.

He and his buddies stopped at all the system's 468 stations in 24 hours, 54 minutes and 3 seconds -- beating the 1989 record by nearly an hour and a half, the New York Daily News reported.

The friends spent months mapping what they thought would be the quickest path through the system's 656 miles.

On their ride, the six men ate energy bars and McDonald's hamburgers delivered to them by devoted friends and were supported by transit workers and fellow straphangers.

A conductor announced, "Everybody, you should know you're riding on the train with the guys who are trying to break the record."