[canucklad]

In this day and age lthe question should be do the world Metropolises have a fully intergrated transit system….and encourages people to ditch cars ideally through cheapness /value/ and total ease of use

On that criteria, my top 5 are ,,,,

1) Hong Kong –the MTR compliments the ferries /buses etc thanks to the Octopus card
2) Vancouver — $3 ticket can get me from a fishing village near the airport to the top Grouse mountain seamlessly using 2 busses /train/ & seabus
3) Don’t knock whats on your doorstep TFL does a wonderful job mostly and the Tube is underated
4) Madrid –are they still charging pesotos
5) Toronto — ease of use–although its been an age

[BusinessTraveller]

We are in the process of compiling our list of 10 top metros and would like to thank everyone who has contributed their views so far. At the moment, our shortlist includes:

London
Madrid
Tokyo
Hong Kong
Moscow
Dubai
Shanghai
Delhi
Stockholm
Mexico City

But we are also considering:

Paris
New York
Naples
Chicago
Copenhagen
Taipei
Sao Paulo
Seoul
Budapest
Singapore
Beijing

Which ones would you say definitely “yes” to and definitely “no” to? Any why?

[PatJordan]

Yes to London:

Sheer scale of the operation, Ease of use.

Maybe to Paris:

Ease of use, good quality rolling stock, but the stations are increasingly used by homeless souls as shelter.

No to New York:

Access through automated barriers when carrying bags (even normal shopping) can be problematic.

[seanyjmuclhr]

My favourites would be:

UK – Tyne and Wear Metro
Europe – Munich, followed by Paris
US – Chicago’s L
WW – Shanghai, followed by HK

I love the Underground too but while it excels operationally, the cost to ride it – even with an Oyster card – is shocking. I have never been more embarassed than the time a US friend only wanted to ride 2 stations and had to pay in excess of £4 in cash for the privilege.

And yes, I ride all these systems regularly.

[SimonS1]

I don’t think you can consider Dubai and London in the same breath. Dubai is 2 lines, brand new etc in a city where money is no object. London is numerous lines and working with Victorian infrastructure and tight monetary constraints.

[shree711]

Hong kong should be shortlisted

[canucklad]

Surprised that San Francisco isn’t included!

[JordanD]

Would have to agree, that San Francisco’s is very good – especially that they run on and under the street … unique design, I believe.

As I’ve said on Twitter, Paris was and is a nightmare to use. Awful signage.

[mgdevine]

For all of the subways I have traveled on, my vote is for Moscow. I like the tube in London and Washington DC is very nice, but Moscows beauty is amazing.

[ScottWilson]

The ones listed reflect exposure. Copenhagen’s new metro is very efficient and modern, but less go there. Vienna’s is rather impressive as well.

Beijing is severely overcrowded.
For sheer majesty Moscow is hard to beat, although Pyongyang’s for what is seen of it, isn’t much different.

Some measures need to be developed to do any sort of analysis. If it is about frequency, connectivity, cleanliness, signage and comfort you’ll get different measures. Hong Kong is remarkable, but not comfortable for longer trips. London’s is comfortable and well signposted, but very haphazard for connections as it is such an old system. From my experience all US systems are rather grotty.

[watersz]

moscow is very ornate but the last time i was there , there was no signage in english and trying to make sense of thier alpabet isnt as easy as it might seem

[jimheadden]

Comfort, coverage, and consistency are the three critical criteria in my opinion. With that in mind, Santiago Chile, Sydney Australia, Singapore, and Athens Greece rank at the top. If we were not discriminating against trams I would include Melbourne as #1 with Amsterdam at #2 although Melbourne has an unfair weather advantage. If one knows how to use train/tram combos then Brussels is among the leaders and HK deserves recognition. Talk of San Francisco BART is out of context in this forum. BART is only useful for commuting between SF and suburbs. I know a little about that since I am an expatriated native of SF. When in SF take the bus or hoof it. Its a coolly concentrated city.

[Cedric_Statherby]

A good thread. Interesting to see what different people consider makes a system “the best metro in the world”. Is it price – some are dirt cheap, London’s notoriously isn’t. Is it convenience – the Paris metro has a density of coverage which is truly impressive (in the central district one is seldom more than 500 metres from a station). Is it ease of use and clarity of maps – rules out New York straight away. Is it impressive stations – Moscow’s gets many votes here (though not if one goes to the suburbs). Is it “visitor-friendliness” – Singapore’s is good here, as is Santiago’s in Chile.

The point is, any one of these could be the determinant, and different people have different yardsticks. But only one system pioneered building railways underground (and then building deep underground), only one system gave the world the word metro (and no, it was not Paris), only one system invented the topograhical map, only one system designed a logo which is recognised all round the world.

And only one system defines its city even for that city’s own citizens. If a station is on the underground map, most Londoners will have a fair idea where it is; but a part of London without an underground station (Catford, anyone?) might just as well for most Londoners not exist.

The London Underground may not be the world’s best. But it is surely the one that every other metro system is measured against.

[OzTraveller]

It’s obvious the majority of replies come from UK based travellers. To imagine for one minute that the London underground is in any way in the top 100 of metro systems in the world is just patriotism taken to the limit. Dirty, overpriced, crowded (with all those early morning poms), give me a break.

Try Seoul as the model of what a metro should be. On time, clean, airconditioned, every 2 minutes here comes another one, vast network, english signage and announcements, and not at all expensive.

The London underground? Mad dogs and Englishmen …

[EuroBiz]

There is no competition for the Copenhagen Metro; it is clean, driverless, and runs around the clock, all day – every day (even on Christmas eve and morning etc.) It runs to and from the airport in 12 minutes from the city centre – every 3 minutes. While it’s not the world’s most comprehensive system, this is just the best metro out there

[Author]

Posts