NationalGeographicTravellerUKMayJune2020

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1863

£17.5bn

IMAGES: GETTY

GOING UNDERGROUND

FROM THE OLDEST TO THE BUSIEST, WE GET THE LOWDOWN ON THE

WORLD’S SUBTERRANEAN METRO SYSTEMS. WORDS: NICOLA TRUP

THE INFO

THE NUMBER OF STATIONS

ON THE CARMELIT IN

HAIFA, ISRAEL — ONE OF

THE WORLD’S SMALLEST

SUBWAY SYSTEMS. IT

HAS JUST FOUR CARS,

SIX STATIONS AND ONE

1.1-MILE TUNNEL.

The cost of building

Saudi Arabia’s new

Riyadh Metro system,

which is due to

launch this year.

FIGURES FOR ANNUAL NUMBER OF PASSENGERS, IN BILLIONS

The year in which

the London

Underground, the

world’s oldest

underground

railway

system, opened.

WORLD’S BUSIEST METRO SYSTEMS

Most accessible subway systems

SOURCES: ATLAS OBSCURA; VISITSTOCKHOLM.COM; MTA.INFO; WEFORUM.ORG; TFL.GOV.UK

TOKYO

MOSCOW

SHANGHAI

BEIJING

SEOUL

NEW YORK CITY

NEW DELHI

GUANGZHOU

MEXICO CITY

HONG KONG

LONDON

3.46

2.37

2.04

1.99

1.89

1.81

1.79

1.73

1.68

1.60

1.06

T-CENTRALEN, STOCKHOLM

More than 90 of Stockholm’s

100 metro stations are

decorated with unique artwork.

T-Centralen was the first to be

styled this way when it opened

in 1957; today, its cave-like Blue

Line platform is painted in a

pretty blue-and-white motif.

KOMSOMOLSKAYA, MOSCOW

First opened in 1952,

Komsomolskaya is one of the

most dramatic stations on the

Moscow Metro, with a vaulted

yellow baroque ceiling, marble

columns and chandeliers.

TOLEDO, NAPLES

Decorated in a different colour

on each level, with a glistening

blue ceiling mosaic and LED

light boxes displaying images

of rolling waves, Toledo Metro

Station is a sight to behold.

beautiful stations

percentage of stations with step-free access

TAKE THREE

IN NUMBERS

NEW YORK

CITY SUBWAY

472

The number of stations on the

system, around 60% of which

are underground.

180 ft

The distance beneath

street level of 191st Street

— the deepest station on

the network.

31 miles

The longest possible journey

with no change of trains, from

207th Street in Manhattan to

Far Rockaway in Queens.

SHANGHAI

METRO

SEOUL

SUBWAY

MADRID

METRO

TOKYO

METRO

100% 100% 53% 51% 33%

MEXICO CITY

METRO

TRAVEL GEEKS

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