[navnov11]

Tokyo, Moscow and London for me.
– Lived in Tokyo for 6 years so used to ride the Metro system daily… For earthquake proof existence nothing beats them.
– Visited Moscow for a week and was mighty impressed with the punctuality of the metro considering it is one of the largest in the world. Not to mention the Soviet era stations!
– The mother of all metros; The Tube! making a living in London these days and the tube is fantastic. if only somebody could fix the Jubilee Line!

[tallboy]

The Madrid Metro runs from 0600 until 0200 (almost all lines), so hardly a 9 to 5 service as suggested above.

[AMcWhirter]

As I posted earlier, Singapore’s MRT suffered from numerous breakdowns towards the end of last year which has damaged its reputation.

Now comes news that the local authorities have instigated a range of measures to help commuters should a breakdown occur in future:

http://www.straitstimes.com/The-Big-Story/The-Big-Story-3/Story/STIStory_796269.html

[capetonianm]

My vote goes to Santiago. As far as I know, it’s the only one that has differential pricing by time of the day to try to avoid overcrowding.

[LeTigre]

After watching several Korean dramas and movies it seems like the Seoul metro system shuts down completely in the event of heavy rain or typhoons (which happen often within the season). While this seems wise, is it true (I haven’t been)?

[LuganoPirate]

When were you last in London Charles? It’s been many many years since you could smoke upstairs on the bus. When it was allowed we’d sit at the back on the way back from school sharing an illicit fag or two! Ah, memories.

[RichHI1]

Yes nowadays being in UK is like being in California. Evrywhere s no smoking yet we have the UK government formalizing drug driving. No smoking but tablets, needles and nose candy galore….

[LuganoPirate]

How about the Gautrain. From OR Tambo to downtown Johannesburg. A lot of it is underground and it’s very fast and frequent. I’m not saying its necessarily the best in the world but IMO up there in the top 20.

[capetonianm]

Gautrain is excellent. By SA standards it is very expensive and not within the reach of the average commuter. It is not like most metro type services which are mass transport systems. And the few times I’ve been on it, there have been as many police as passengers on the train, and on the connecting buses I’ve often been the only passenger.

[HongKongLady]

Hong Kong’s MTR is a 365 days a year operation as are it’s busses and ferries, this says a lot about the service. It is also frequent, excellent value and safe. Oh and then there is the octopus card which is simply genius !
The Tube is ummm well the tube, I will only use it if I have to.
Love the singing singapore lines but I have had a report the cheery ‘train is coming train is coming please line up please line up’ song has stopped.
The Bangkok sky rail is good.
Only have a vague recolection of the Paris metro but it surely has got to beat Paris taxi drivers.

[FlyingChinaman]

In terms of ticket costs and service efficiency, Hong Kong is on the top five global cities in the world. Communters must compare this with like and like and not just some far-flung developing countries.

As HongKongLady said, out Optopus Stored Value Tickets excelled not just to pay for bus/train tickets but can actually be used for purchases in convenience stores and supermarkets as well as paying for passport photos at a public photo-booth! So much so London Underground is naming it’s fare card Oyster but I suspect there is a lot of British technology in our advanced underground system.

The Singapore metro was built by the same company which constructed the Hong Kong system but touch woods we are not experiencing the current Singapore break downs!

[DavidGordon10]

May I put in a plea, on grounds of charm, for the Baku metro? Some stations with fine Soviet-era decoration, very polite security (what other police force would help brush dust from your sleeve?), excellent smart-card technology for tickets and a little genuine surprise from the locals at a visitor using their metro. Interestingly, age trumps gender on matters such as who gets a seat – it is a little disconcerting for a white-haired sixty year old Brit to be offered a seat by a young woman.

[tolotaxi]

I found the DC metro to be very quick and easy on a recent visit. A nice atmosphere, and very simple connections (walk up from one platform to the other one by a single short escalator). The fare system and ticket machines take a bit of getting used to but I really liked the style and convenience of the Metro.

[rferguson]

Any Metro that runs 24 hours and is cheap.

I noticed on my last visit to NYC that they are progressively introducing new trains on the subway. With aircon and ‘clearer announcements’ or so their marketing spiel claims.

They have also installed those display boards like on London Underground showing how many minutes until the next train is due at many stations.

Yes, stations are pretty drab and uninviting but the trains run 24 hours, a single ticket is still only $2.50 and the trains are generally pretty clean and feel safe (they still all have a driver AND a guard).

Berlin has a great Metro system also.

Montreal has a great little one also.

I think London has a fantastic metro system but is too expensive and closes too early.

One of the poorest systems for me is Sydney. Poor network, expensive, much of the rolling stock old (not airconditioned which is a pain in the Sydney summer) and infrequent service to many destinations.

[scott66]

I’ve got to agree with Becky.

I was very impressed with Singapore’s system. The ease of use, integration with bus networks, cleanliness of stations and trains, even the the cheesy jingles as the trains arrive. But best of all – No lazy arsed tube drivers ready to hold the city to ransom at the drop of the hat!!

When can Londoners have an automated system like Singapore?

[Author]

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