BusinessTraveller - 15/12/2011 16:37 GMT
Which cities do you think have the best underground systems and why? And how often do you use them?
Best metro in world?
Posts
millionsofmiles - 15/12/2011 17:11 GMT
I am not the worldwide specialist, but I was VERY impressed in Moscow:
Clean, marble floors and walls, abundance of luxurious chandeliers, great! And the acceleration of the trains is unbelievably fast.
So I'd opt for Moscow. Definitely not: New York.
PJordan - 15/12/2011 17:56 GMT
for all its faults, London Underground takes beating. The Docklands Light Railway is good too: my Grandson loved sitting in the front without a driver!
Pat
NTarrant - 15/12/2011 18:47 GMT
I agree with you Pat, London does take some beating. Other good examples are Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai.
Hippocampus - 15/12/2011 21:59 GMT
London for, in spite of its problems, the sheer scale of the network and the huge volume of passengers it carries everyday, as well as clear signage and navigation and improving proactive passenger communication.
New York falls far short with mainly inaudible driver announcements, dark uninviting stations, and poor signage (only very recently have they introduced countdown clocks in stations!).
BGIWorldTraveller - 15/12/2011 22:29 GMT
I think Madrid has an exceptional Metro system. Relatively state of the art trains, clear annoucements, comfortable seating and clean stations.
Hengli123 - 15/12/2011 23:10 GMT
While the MRT system in Singapore is neither very pretty nor especially extensive, it does what it is meant to well:
-very reliable
-stations generally where you need them
-inexpensive
-fast
-comfortable (even in rush-hour the crush does not reach LU Met Line levels)
Other than that, I like the flashy Dubai Metro quite a lot, though knowing everything in the UAE is powered by oil in one way or another makes me feel a bit guilty.
BeckyBoop - 15/12/2011 23:26 GMT
Definitely NOT the Tube (London underground) its the pits how many of you have to use it every day?!?!?!?... yuk!!!
Listen to this it will explain how all regular commuters feel!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UymKurTBdhw
I hear Beijing and Tokyo are very good but have never used used them myself
xxx
shree711 - 17/12/2011 14:57 GMT
I believe the best metro system in the world is the Hong Kong MTR because it actually carries a huge number of people within a low catchment area. The system is amazingly clean, precise and on time. The MTR's standards in general are very high.It is very efficient and Hong Kong is really a testimony to what the meaning of public transport is because 90% of daily journeys are made by public transport there.
Communipaw - 17/12/2011 16:02 GMT
Seoul has a very impressive subway system.
Easy to use, with announcements in both Korean and English.
HonestCrew - 17/12/2011 20:47 GMT
Ditto Becky.
The London Underground in the summer is murder and a national embarrassment. Where else in the world do the operators advise you carry plenty of water so not to pass out in heat. One place hit 39c this summer!
Granted, the network is great, but the experience in summer leaves a bitter taste in my parched mouth.
Nice to see the new London Routemaster bus unveiled today and goodbye to the junction-clogging, fare-dodging, 'self-combusting' bendy-bus!
http://travel.aol.co.uk/2011/12/17/boris-unveils-londons-new-hop-on-hop-off-bus/
RichHI1 - 18/12/2011 07:55 GMT
New York smells bad, is nasty but runs 24 hours beats traffic in rush hours and is sensibly priced unlike London Underground which is a rip off and closes too early to use on a night out.
My vote though would be Tokyo where the trains run to the minute and like the subway it has express and local trains.
VintageKrug - 18/12/2011 09:16 GMT
London Underground will be much improved once the new air conditioned trains roll out more widely:
The new tube lines and stations already planned with further improve the network.
I've travelled on plenty of metros, but for speed, comfort (those nice sprung cloth seats - luxury!), relative cost-effectiveness and network the tube takes some beating.
LuganoPirate - 18/12/2011 09:45 GMT
I think the Hong King Metro is no. 1, then the DLR, but not the London Underground, though I love the maps! Not strictly a metro, but the Gauteng train from JNB is incredible for speed and ease of use.
Saffjoyfox3 - 18/12/2011 14:35 GMT
I would say:
- the Delhi metro (in particular, it links the satellite, but highly developed and popular residential, town of Gurgaon to New Delhi proper very well and avoids the heavy and unpredictable Delhi traffic).
- and I have always found the Paris and Madrid metro systems very easy and cost-effective to use, especially when moving round the city centres.
LondonCity - 18/12/2011 17:00 GMT
Hello Hengli123
I would have totally agreed with your comments on the Singapore MRT until I read The Straits Times this weekend.
There are many reports about how the MRT is failing Singaporeans right now. Historically this newish system has been more or less faultless but as it comes of age the MRT is seeing the sort of problems which mature transit systems in Europe experience.
The difference is that whereas we in Europe know what to do when things go wrong, our Singaporean counterparts do not.
There have been a number of breakdowns and system failures recently on the Singapore MRT which have made headline news, day after day, in the local media.
The result has been chaos and confusion because passengers and staff simply didn't know what to do.
Now analysts are telling the MRT management they must polish up their act and learn from the operators of transit systems elsewhere.
Readers contemplating a trip on the MRT should bear this in mind.
http://www.straitstimes.com/The-Big-Story/The-Big-Story-3/Story/STIStory_746310.html
BeckyBoop - 18/12/2011 18:15 GMT
"cost-effectiveness" oh please! Vintage krug are you going mad again... nurse, nurse NUUURRRSSEEE!!!!! ..lol just teasing sweet pea, granted they can be comforatble if you ever get a seat! ;) xxxxx
The LT staff both tube and buses for that matter are absolute muppets, holding the hold network to ransom during the the olympics for more money.. they make the so called 'mentalists" of a certain airlines staff assocication like absolute saints in comparrison. Why cant they use driverless trains like those on the DLR????
lets sing, all together now...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&v=UymKurTBdhw
xxx
RichHI1 - 18/12/2011 18:45 GMT
I am afraid posts from certain posters are incredibly predictable. For anyone who is a frequent traveller I cannot believe anyone would prefer the over priced, over crowded London Underground. It is amazing air con is a novelty in the 2010's. What happened to express
Services on the District, pullman cars on Metropolitan etc?
When it began London led the world. Interesting they brought over an American to run it ( which is why there are so many Americanisms in use to this day.
Hippocampus - 18/12/2011 19:49 GMT
The point is you have to compare like with like. For all its faults The London Underground system does a very effective job at carrying millions of people in a very densly populated city across a relatively large network of lines and stations. There are about 3.5m journeys every day in Zones 1-2 alone.
RichHI1 - 18/12/2011 20:01 GMT
I would rate a subway as a rider not as a management consultant. Interesting how little response there has been on how often you ride. Tokyo is the only one I ride often. I guess NY now and again and London hardly ever. District and metropolitan not too bad but i find the tube lines (northern, piccadilly etc) very claustrophobic.
Anyone know if there is any truth to the Moscow subway having a secondary system below built for party officials. Nice subway but the escalators are so steep!
