[Article] World's 10 best metro systems

I dont think they are the best. For example London is surely big. But its effectiveness and people usage is about 35% I know you think, I will say it only because i am from cz, but I think althought the prague subway system has "only" three lines, its effectiveness is 70% and daily usage nearly doubles the people living in Prague. Only my opinion

I think you can't really say which system is the best. It all depends on how you rate the networks. The list is inconsistent on how it rated the systems. For example, it rate the chinese system solely on passenger count whereas it downgraded singapore's system because of some system hiccups. Besides, I live in singapore and the number of hiccups has climbed significantly.

Anyway, if it is really rated by passenger count, singapore shouldn't even be in the list. Moscow should be in the list. And Seoul. Clearly, the list is inconsistent.

Just my two cents.

I agree with you. Its like saying that the world "best" city is for example New York, just because I said. Maybe the tittle shall have been like this: My top 10 favourite metro systems

"São Paulo: 3.3 million happy commuters every day."

I'm sure 95% of those 3.3 million will disagree with the happy part


"Tokyo: Super efficient. Regarding no-speaking rules, too much so."

Just read on Readers Digest that Tokyo have a goal to decrease the metro overflooded system down to 150%. And employees need to push people inside the wagons so they can fit
How lovely. Too bad can't find this article online.
P.S.: Here you go: http://www.rd.com/slideshows/the-worlds-most-outrageous-commutes/#slideshow=slide5


"Paris: When the only complaint is "the doors are manual," you're probably doing a lot right."

What about garbage and rats on stations? Or doors closing your shoes out and the rest of your body in? Lose the shoe, be glad its not the leg. All seeing by my own very own eyes.


Sorry but this article is Aprils fools joke to me. I know nothing about metros systems and from my little experience I can already take 3 off the list.

The doors are manual was an actual complaint? That's not criticism, that's thanking them for not letting passengers freeze to death at the terminus. Garbage and rats in Paris? Not sure about the garbage and the rats, what I do know is that the Métro looks a lot dirtier when there's another underground complex connected to it (Forum des Halles) which looks a lot cleaner.

What's so great about getting crushed into a carriage, getting in a metro system that has questionable safety, a subway system with crime etc...

The idiot doesn't know anything about technical improvements on the Underground. Also, why does he complain about old cars while they happen to be wayy more comfortable in most cases.

And Berlin isn't even on the list with it's fully integrated transit system. (I was even able to catch a tram in Potsdam with my Berlin ticket, for instance)

the London subwaysystem is great because it's relatively easy to use imo to get around the city. Using the Paris subway is complicated. New York also has some complicated transfers.

When I've used the Paris Metro I've found the network map completely bewildering. For all its praise the London Underground "Beck" diagram may be clean and easy to read yet I've always felt it needs an accompanying map to provide geographical information for those not from London, but the Paris Metro maps are just sheets of poorly labelled spaghetti with vague guides to where you need to change to get to your desired destination. It's been 5+ years since I was there last but my impression then was that the RATP hadn't kept pace with SNCF for the steps taken to make its network more accessible to those not from France.

My biggest complaint about the Paris Metro though is the heat - in the stations especially. By comparison it makes the London Underground feel like a fridge, which is quite an achievement considering its essentially a sub-surface system. The rubber tyre operation is to blame for that but they're not going to abandon it now so they need to look at ways of providing more ventilation.

Rubber tires don't make the heat. Steel wheels do. Also, Paris isn't that hot compared to (1) the Victoria line (2) at peak hour (3) since the 09ts.

the London subwaysystem is great because it's relatively easy to use imo to get around the city. Using the Paris subway is complicated. New York also has some complicated transfers.

Click to expand...

I have to agree. London just has eastbound, westbound and the stations in those directions. Paris only has the final destination, which takes some time looking at the map.

I'm not sure about NYC; never been there, 3000 km away... At least it has the services...

If it were possible Paris should re-build most of it's Metro system. The stations are small, the trains too short, everything looks run down and dirty. If you are old or disabled, well good luck, elevators and escalators are very rare.
Without a proper map you will be totally lost in that system.

The Santiago Metro isn't the best in America??? Wtf? This is the subway system I always use, and is excellent in frequency, cleanliness, technology, culture and access and is not in the ranking. Sorry 4 my bad English.

Gogomaester said:

I dont think they are the best. For example London is surely big. But its effectiveness and people usage is about 35% I know you think, I will say it only because i am from cz, but I think althought the prague subway system has "only" three lines, its effectiveness is 70% and daily usage nearly doubles the people living in Prague. Only my opinion

Click to expand...

Prague metro system is pretty nice indeed, although i prefer to use the even nicer tram network.
My only problem with it are the transfer stations, where you need to walk for a couple of minutes underground to get from one line to another. (Especially compared to Stockholm's network, where change is really simple and nicely solved.)

TH1 said:

Prague metro system is pretty nice indeed, although i prefer to use the even nicer tram network.
My only problem with it are the transfer stations, where you need to walk for a couple of minutes underground to get from one line to another. (Especially compared to Stockholm's network, where change is really simple and nicely solved.)

Click to expand...

Enjoy Bank underneath King William Street. (10 minutes on a good day between the Central line and the Circle/District lines)

Drag0nflamez said:

Rubber tires don't make the heat. Steel wheels do. Also, Paris isn't that hot compared to (1) the Victoria line (2) at peak hour (3) since the 09ts.

Click to expand...

Steel-on-steel is low friction, the rubber tyre system is high friction and it's friction that generates the heat. After noise reduction, the high friction aspect of the rubber tyre system was one of the main reasons for its adoption, as it meant – in theory at least – higher rates of acceleration and braking, although in practice these were never realised as passenger comfort levels are a limiting factor.

The problem with heat in the tube system particularly the Victoria line is that the tubes are buried deep underground with limited ventilation – in the case of the Victoria line it is on average buried around 20m (or 7 storeys) underground. This is exasperated by the surrounding clay bed which absorbs all the heat and acts as a thermal blanket - but with no easy way to dissipate that heat.

Notice that on the modern extension of the Jubilee line that it is relatively cooler. When the Jubilee line was extended in the 90s it was constructed with bigger tunnels and better ventilation – the main reason of the platform screens in the contemporary Jubilee line tube stations is not so much to stop people from going on the track, but to provide better environmental control (for lack of a better word that comes to mind) for both the tunnels and the stations. So although the 1996 stock of the Jubilee line until recently emitted more heat than the Victoria line stock the modern extension is actually cooler than the latter.

Sorry for going on a bit...

Gotta love regenerative braking. It has never been quite hot on the Jubilee, even without the extension...