From the invention of the wheel to the present day, Mankind has not tired of improving vehicles. Whom now you will surprise with intercontinental flights or round-the-world travel on a modern passenger sea liner. What can I say, if Humanity began to conquer the Cosmos.
At the beginning of the XIX century, human thought came up with the invention of a steam locomotive, and already at the end of the same century created underground railways. Now millions of people use the metro every day.
With its similarity, each metro is surprising in its structure, number and decoration of stations, the alternation of underground and land lines.
Our story about the largest and most unique undergrounds in the world.
10
Mexico City (Sistema de Transporte Colectivo Metro)
The first metro line of Mexico City was opened in 1969, and consisted of only a few stations. Today, this metro is the largest in Latin America, and on the North American continent it is second only to New York in size.
The Mexican metro has 195 stations, which are combined in 12 lines. Mexico City metro transports 1.5 billion people annually.
The uniqueness of this metro is that the rolling stock is mainly on the bus. The original structure of the metro, due to the fact that the city is in the mountains. 115 stations are located underground, 55 - at the level of the earth's surface and 25 stations are built above the ground.
At many stations along with inscriptions are symbols of people, animals, arrows. Images duplicated and the names of the stations. All this is done for the convenience of orientation in the huge metro illiterate residents of Mexico City.
One of the metro stations in the Mexican capital is dedicated to the metro of different countries of the world. One of the photographs against the backdrop of St. Basil’s Cathedral shows a diagram of the Moscow Metro.
Mexico City Metro is located above sea level above others; its height is 2,340 meters.
During the construction of the metro in Mexico City in 1967, the Aztec temple was discovered in honor of Eekatl-Quetzalcoatl. Now the passengers of the Pinot Suarez station can see this ancient temple in the form of a pyramid.
9
Moscow (Moscow Metro)
Perhaps the Moscow metro will go down in world history in the duration of the project, because 60 years have passed from the idea to the launch of the first metro line. The first idea of construction was proposed in 1875, but the turbulent events of Russian history of the late XIX - early XX centuries did not allow to realize the project. Only on May 15, 1935 the first metro line was opened, including 13 stations and 12 rolling stocks.
Today, the Moscow metro, consisting of 230 stations and 15 lines, covers not only the Russian metropolis, but also part of the Moscow region. Subway trains transport 2.5 billion passengers annually. In recent years, the metro has been expanding, opening up new stations and platforms. In September 2016, traffic along the Moscow Central Ring was launched, which, like the ring branch, connected radial lines, but over a larger radius.
In the Moscow metro system, 5 metro bridges were built. By this indicator, Moscow is second only to Paris. By architecture, Moscow is one of the most beautiful subways in the world.
The Moscow Metro continues to officially bear the name of Vladimir Lenin. No renaming decisions have been made since the end of the Soviet era.
Do you know where the deepest metro in the world is? Read the answer on our site thebiggest.ru by clicking on the link.
8
London (London Underground)
In 1818, engineer Mark Brunel invented a mechanism to break tunnels in soft soil beneath the surface of the earth. This invention gave impetus to the implementation of the project for the construction of a railway underground.
The first metro line in London, the Metropolitan Railway, launched the first steam-powered train on January 10, 1863. Only 6 km, but it was a breakthrough of human thought. Thus, the London Underground is the first and oldest metro in the world.
History has preserved those first stations and rolling stocks with trains except in drawings and photographs. Today the London Underground is a modern system of 270 stations and 11 lines. There were 12 lines, but one of the lines after the reconstruction became part of the land line of the London land road.
One of the unique projects of the modern development of the London Underground was the implementation of the Art in the Underground program. Billboards at the stations are decorated with copies of the masterpieces of world painting, on platforms and carriages, famous actors read famous poems and poems of the past and the present.
7
Tokyo (Chikatetsu)
The metro of the Japanese capital, perhaps, is known to the whole world for the existing "Osiya" position in it. These are people who are on duty on the platform and help passengers to get into the car, frankly pushing them into the crowd of people.
The introduction of such a position is justified, because the Tokyo Metro takes first place in the world in passenger traffic, transporting 3.218 billion people a year. One of the busiest and largest metro stations in the world is the Tokyo Shinjuku metro station.
The first metro line in Tokyo opened on the penultimate day of 1927 and connected only two stations.
Today, the subway is a system of 285 stations divided between the state and a private company. 179 stations on 9 lines are controlled by a private company, 106 stations on 4 lines are owned by the state. It is interesting that the difference in tickets is minimal, the "private trader" has more yen.
The Tokyo subway differs from other subways in the world in that it uses ruts of three different parameters. No station has a safety gutter.
6
Paris (Metro de Paris)
Thanks to the Paris Underground Railway, the whole world recognized the words "metro" and the abbreviated "metro".
The Paris metro system has spread its network throughout Paris and the suburbs of the European metropolis. The construction of the Paris metro was greatly influenced by the structure of the city. One of the oldest cities in Europe had many underground utilities, basements, warehouses. Therefore, the first branches were built strictly under city roads and the platforms were narrow.
Metro in Paris was opened in 1900. By tradition, as it was with the opening of the Eiffel Tower, the subway was opened for the World Exhibition.
Now the Paris Metro has 14 lines and two short dead ends. The length of the roads is 220 km, 303 stations fit on them, 62 of which are interchange stations.
It is noteworthy that many names of Paris metro stations are associated with Russia or the Soviet Union. There is a station "Stalingrad", "Sevastopol", but the station "Crimea" is most likely named after the commune during the years of the revolution, and is not connected with the famous peninsula.
5
Beijing (Běijīng Dìtiě)
The Beijing subway impresses with its length. And what else should be the length of the metro for one of the largest cities on Earth. With a length of 527 km, it is second only to the Shanghai Metro.
The Beijing Metro takes its beginning in 1969. But until 1976, only the military and people with special permission from the Chinese authorities used the metro. During the turbulent years of the Cultural Revolution, the metro did not work for long periods.
Now it is a very extensive system, consisting of 14 city lines and 8 lines leading to the suburbs.
Chinese experts use the latest technology in the subway, not only in rolling stock, but also in decoration and lighting. Today it is the cleanest and most lighted metro in the world. Many Chinese borrowed from other countries in terms of decoration and decoration of stations.
The metro of the Chinese capital during rush hours can pass up to 10 million people, which is a world record.
4
Madrid (Metro de Madrid)
The Madrid Metro is unique in that the Spaniards rank the tram lines as well, considering it a light, underground metro, which also has 8 underground stations.
The metro in the capital of Spain began work in 1919. Non-participation in the First World War, allowed Spain to focus on the country's internal development.
The metro is 320 km long and includes 13 underground lines and 3 light tram lines in this long system. On these branches, 326 comfortable stations are concentrated.
For the first time in the world, in Madrid Metro, a system of ring lines was used, which greatly simplified the connection between remote areas.
An interesting fact from the history of the Spanish metro indicates that the Chambery station was closed in 1966 for reconstruction. But later it was decided not to open it, due to the proximity of another large station.
The station still opened in 208, but as a museum station. All the while it was closed, the station was called the "ghost station."
3
Shanghai (Shànghǎi Dìtiě)
The Shanghai Metro ranks first in terms of line length. The entire metro system is over 500 km away. The Shanghai Metro also occupies a leading position in the world as the fastest growing transport system.
Recently opened in 1993, today the Shanghai metro has 16 lines and another 5 are under construction, which will increase the length by about 220 km.
A distinctive feature of the metro is the non-fixed fare, and depending on the distance. Current is supplied through the upper current collector, and not the lower one, as in most subways in the world.
Chinese cities are overpopulated, so the metro feels very busy. At peak times, the passenger flow of the Shanghai Metro reaches 7 million people. In such periods, they draw on the experience of Tokyo "pushers" so that the trains do not get out of schedule due to the long landing of people in cars.
Managed by four private companies in the metro, but owned by the same owner. Shanghai metro is spacious and clean. During the construction, the experience of Russian and Japanese metro builders was used.
2
Seoul (Soul Toshi Cholt)
In the Russian pronunciation, the Seoul Metro sounds a little strange "Soul Toshi Chholto." But this is one of the busiest metro in the world. More than 2.5 billion people go through turnstiles and subway cars in the Korean capital annually.
Opened on August 15, 1974, Seoul Metro now has 9 lines and 311 stations. This metro holds the first place in the world by the length of one line. Line No. 5 stretched for 52 kilometers.
The uniqueness of the Seoul metro is also that it is purely underground, there are no stations on the surface of the earth.
It is interesting that suburban lines serve more passengers than urban lines for almost 120 thousand people. A major impetus to the development of the transport system was given by the holding of the 1988 Summer Olympics.
1
New York (New York City Subway)
So we got on the subway to the largest metro in the world. It is difficult to imagine, but the New York subway includes 468 platforms in its system, combined in 34 lines. The total distance of the metro is 1355 kilometers.
The New York subway begins its history back in 1868, when single cars on overpasses began to move on the ropes above the city. In 1890, cars began to move with the help of electric current.
Despite the largest number of cars per capita, the subway of this American city is quite popular. Around 4 million people use the subway a day.
For easy orientation of passengers, stations are named strictly for objects on the ground. But in New York there are many streets with the same name, so the line number is added to the name of the station.
There is a unique Essex Street station in the subway. It is adjacent to an abandoned tram depot. Sculptures were installed on the platform, in the form of boys collecting fallen tokens or trifles, animals climbing columns or begging for food.
The New York Subway is another record holder. Station "Ninth Street" is located at an altitude of 27 meters above the ground. A unique overpass was made for her with two platforms and escalators overlooking the city.
The metro literally translates as “metropolitan railway”. But the subway has long gone beyond the capitals. In the Soviet Union, for example, there was a program for the construction of the metro in cities whose population will exceed 1 million people.
Finally
In many countries, the subway was designed as a military facility. During the Cold War, Moscow, Leningrad, and New York metro stations could be used as bomb shelters in the event of a nuclear war.
Be that as it may, this is a very convenient and affordable mode of transport. One drawback, if you come to see the metro city, will not give you the impression of land transport. But the Moscow metro, Beijing or metro in Oslo in themselves are works of art. Their architecture and decoration are striking in their splendor and beauty. On this, our rating of the largest subways came to an end.
Article author: Valery Skiba