World subways

World subways

The metro is a unique type of urban transport, it is the fastest, most convenient and affordable transport in large cities. There are 234 cities around the world with subways, about 50 more are in the design and construction phase.

London Underground

The London Underground is the oldest underground in the world. The first metro line 6 km long was launched on January 10, 1863 and consisted of seven stations. It connected two major train stations with the City. The construction was carried out by the company “Metropolitan Railways”. From this name came the actual word “metro”, which is now used in many countries. Although Londoners call the underground in their city “The Tube” because of the shape of the deep laying tunnels.

Currently, the London Underground is one of the largest in the world – the length of its lines is 402 kilometers (45% of which are underground), there are 270 stations on 11 lines. Kennington is considered one of the most beautiful stations of the London Underground, which has changed little since its construction. The London metro is divided into zones, depending on which the fare is calculated. Thus, the trip can cost from $1 to $20. Conditions oftransportation in the London Underground require passengers to apply Travelcard tickets to the validator at the beginning and end of their journey.

In addition to automatic gates and a staff of conductors, the London Underground is patrolled by plainclothes and uniformed ticket inspectors with a portable card reader. Passengers who are in the metro without a valid ticket or who did not attach a ticket to the validator at the beginning of the trip are required to pay a fine.

The “youngest” subways were opened in 2016 in four cities in China – Fuzhou, Dongguan, Nanning and Hefei. In China, the construction of subways is developing most intensively – since 2010, 2-3 subways are opened every year. In another 11 cities in China, subways are under construction and are scheduled to open by 2020.

Shanghai Metro

The Shanghai Metro is the longest metro in the world, with a length of 538 kilometers. It is difficult to calculate how many lines the Shanghai metro charges, as it is one of the youngest (opened in 1993) and fastest growing metro systems in the world. At the moment, there are 14 operating lines, 5 under construction and 329 stations.

An interesting fact – on December 29, 2007, 92 km of new metro lines with 70 stations were simultaneously opened in Shanghai, which is an unsurpassed world record for the one-time opening of new metro sections. It is known that by 2020 the length of the lines is planned to be increased to 780 km, and the number of stations – to 480.

Unlike many other metro systems in the world, the Shanghai subway uses an overhead collector, possibly due to the 1500V voltage it uses – double that of most downstream systems.

On one of the lines of the Shanghai subway, the platform is separated from the tracks by a transparent wall with sliding doors; they are also planned to equip other lines that were opened earlier. The Shanghai subway fares from $ 0.50 to $ 2, depending on the length of the trip.

The most beautiful place in the Shanghai Metro is not the station, but the Bund Sightseeing tunnel. The tunnel runs under the Huangpu River and transports Shanghai residents and visitors from one bank to the other every day. Instead of the usual carriages, small cabins, designed for several passengers, move along the tunnel. The length of the tunnel is 646.7 meters, the travel time is only 5 minutes.

This branch is equipped with several thousand lamps, screens, garlands, projectors, with the help of which bizarre optical images are created. In addition to the magnificent illumination, some kind of extraterrestrial, space music sounds. As a result of all this technical research, traveling through the tunnel in a glazed booth turns into an unforgettable adventure.

Among the shortest metros in the world, the Algerian metro stands out, the length of which is only 9.5 km. However, at the same time, the passenger traffic in the Algerian metro is 150 million people per year, which is a very high figure among all the short metro systems in the world.

New York subway

New York subway is the leader in two parameters at once – the largest number of lines and the largest number of stations. There are 468 stations on 35 lines of the New York Metro. Among the records recorded by the Guinness Book of Records, there is the minimum time it took to go around all the stations of the New York subway, stopping at each station. As of January 2015, the current record holder is Matthew Ahn, with a result of 21 hours, 49 minutes and 35 seconds.

The history of the metro in New York began in 1868, when an overhead (on metal overpasses) city railway line with cable traction was opened, which was replaced in 1871 by steam, and in 1890 by electric. The first underground line was commissioned in 1904.

A feature of the New York subway is the organization of train traffic on 25 routes, each of which runs along one or more lines. Most routes are divided into express routes (stopping only at some stations) and local (with all stops); for this route separation, the line has 3 or 4 paths; In addition, there are several short shuttle routes and one pair of skip-stop routes. While some routes are closed or shortened at night or on weekends, the underground generally operates around the clock. Only two 42nd Street shuttle stations close for the night. Train timetables change depending on the day of the week and time of day.

A single-trip ticket costs $ 3.00. With the same ticket, you can continue your trip by city bus after exiting the metro, but only within two hours from the moment you pass the metro entrance turnstile. Or vice versa: first go by bus, and then, but no more than two hours later, use the same ticket to go to the metro. A multi-day pass entitles you to multiple, unlimited travel in the metro and city buses during its validity period.

As of 2009, the US average is 90% of families owning a car. In New York, the figure is 48%, and in Manhattan, only 22%. Therefore, in New York, public transport in general and the subway in particular are of high importance.

Tokyo subway

Tokyo Metro – occupies a leading position in the world in terms of passenger traffic. Over the year, 3.217 billion people used the Tokyo subway. The Beijing subway with a passenger traffic of 3.209 billion people lags behind quite a bit.

In connection with such a large passenger traffic in the Tokyo subway, there is a special position for pushing passengers into overcrowded cars – oshiya. Oshiya pushes passengers inside the wagon and makes sure that their luggage is not jammed by doors.

The Tokyo metro consists of 290 stations and 13 lines. Key metro stations are connected to a host of other public transport systems: trains, monorails, Shinkansen and others. The most used subway station, Shinjuku, handles approximately 2 million passengers a day, making it the busiest and second largest station in the world.

The most beautiful metro station in Tokyo is Iidabashi station, which is made of steel sheets. The fare in the Tokyo subway will cost from $ 1.6. For residents of large cities, the metro is a familiar form of transport, but for city guests it is often one of the brightest and most interesting sights.

Railway magazine “Railway Supply”

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