The World’s 10 Busiest Subway Systems

[marmar]

from Txchnologist

complete list with photos is at: http://www.txchnologist.com/2012/white-glove-service-the-world%E2%80%99s-10-busiest-subway-systems



White Glove Service: The World’s 10 Busiest Subway Systems
April 26th, 2012


Tokyo and its famed white-gloved shoving service, which helps pack the crowded subways trains, may be the world’s busiest public transport system but it’s under pressure from its Asian neighbors. In the past decade, other Asian cities have populated their undergrounds with busy commuters. Indeed, underscoring Asia’s growing economic clout, today the region is home to seven of the world’s 10 busiest transit systems. This trend could foster a new loose economic rule: As GDP grows, urbanites go underground.


1. Tokyo




......

4. Beijing




......

8. Paris




......

10. Mexico City

[nxylas]

1. Moscow and Paris definitely get the award for most stylish stations

At least based on those photos.

[RZM]

2. Moscow stations are pretty cool

There are some really neat ones. A lot of them contain WWII memorials.

[Diclotican]

4. RZM

RZM

One of the reasons the Moscow underground stations is as they are today - more like palaces than subway stations, is because back in the days when Stalin was the upper dog in USSR, he decided that he wanted to build a underground station service and make it also some of a propaganda instrument to how great the USSR was.. And also to give the masses a taste of the arts... And what an art it was indeed... It was impressive then - and are still impressive if you have the time to look at what is underground... And the collective still cost less to use the sub, than to use the other collective transports... (I think some between 8 or 15 copek.)

And the underground stations is deeper than in most other nations - as it also was meant to be used as shelter if USSR ever got to war - and most of the stations in down-town Moscow was ready in 1941, when the war started... And the stations was indeed used to protect the civilians when the germans hit Moscow in 1941... Many russians in the capital, survived mostly because of this underground subway stations.. As they did it in London at the same time, when Germany did their best to blow London to pieces...

It is also rumored, that Stalin used some parts of this subway system to travel to places inside, or outside of Moscow out of sight of everyone... And some other parts, who was build but never used by the public, is known to have been used by the government of Soviet Union, and later by the russian authority as some form of emergency services where all the most important government offices and buildings is connected to the subway system - for the governments use.. The Subway system used by the government is more or less like an subway on their own, trailing out from Kremlin, and other important offices to parts long away from Moscow.. To more or less secrets railroad stations, who until 1991 was on standby alert, if ever the need arise (No, it is not a James Bond plot, but a really one)

Diclotican

[Little Star]

3. I agree.

[MadrasT]

5. Lovely.

I'm an infrastructure geek.

Surprised London is not on the list. Had no idea that Mexico City has a busier subway than London.

Thanks!

[marmar]

6. I would imagine the Underground lurks at 11 or 12 - very close to the Top 10.

nt

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. Just a small correction

The Tokyo picture is not of the subway, but of the above-ground Yamanote commuter train, which circles the inner parts of the city.

(I can tell because of 1) The open-air platform (look closely) and 2) The train wears the Yamanote colors: silver with two green stripes.)

The subway stations look like this:

[marmar]

8. Thanks for that.....When they post these, there are ALWAYS photo errors.

I saw one picture of the NYC subway that was actually the Metro-North commuter railroad.