List of rapid transit systems
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This is an alphabetical list of cities worldwide that have a rapid transit system, or a light-rail system with some elements of rapid transit. Such systems are commonly called metros, subways, elevated railways, heavy rail, rapid rail, or underground railways; see passenger rail terminology for more information.
Rapid transit (heavy rail) is generally defined by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) as "high-speed, passenger rail cars operating singly or in trains of two or more cars on fixed rails in separate right-of-way from which all other vehicular and foot traffic are excluded. [link]. This generally does not include "other" rail modes such as aerial tramways, automated guideway transit, cable cars, inclined planes tramway, or monorails.
Most light rail systems and commuter rail sytems are not included here. Some systems which provide metro service using light-rail vehicles or in some other way have elements of both may be in both lists.
See also: List of suburban and commuter rail systems, list of airport circulators, List of light-rail transit systems, List of town tramway (urban tramway, streetcar) systems, List of cities with trolleybuses, List of cities that no longer have trolleybuses.
Contents
Africa
| Country | City | Name of System | List of stations | Date opened | Official link | Other link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egypt | Cairo | Cairo Metro | List | 1987 | [NAT-Egypt] | [link] |
Asia
Notes
- Includes Caucasus.
- There are four systems in KCR. East Rail shares track with inter-city and freight trains on most but not all of its tracks. West Rail was designed as a commuter railway like East Rail, but contains only within-Hong Kong service currently, and is operating as a metro. The third one is the Light Rail system. A fourth one, the Ma On Shan Rail, is a branch of East Rail containing only local passenger service. The East Rail was opened in 1910 as part of a raillink to Canton (now Guangzhou), the Kowloon-Canton Railway, with some local service. It was electrified in the early 1980s, and over 95% of services on its track are now metro-like passenger service within Hong Kong's territories.
- The Wuhan Metro system is an elevated metro; in Chinese terminology, it is called light rail.
Europe, excluding the Caucasus
Notes
- The first line of what became the London Underground was built as a partly-underground steam railway in 1863; its first electric line was built in 1890.
- see also U-Bahn.
- see also Transportation in Germany.
- built as Cable car. Electrified in 1935.
- northernmost metro in the world
- See also VAL
- in the Milan page there are also Suburban Lines "S", and FNM Lines. Both runs underground in Milan with dozens of stations.
- RER is the metropolitan express subway in Paris area.
- built as urban steam railway in 1863.
- built as urban steam railway in 1898.
- Through running from the tunnels to existing tramways.
- System contains stretches of unsegregated light rail.
- The Dublin METRO is due to be completed fully by 2015 under the Irish Government's €34 billion "Transport 21" Plan. The exact routes of the Dublin Metro have not yet been finalised.
- built as urban steam railway in 1869.
North America
Canada
| Metropolitan area | Province | Name of System | List of stations | Date opened | Official link | Other link | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary | Alberta | CTrain | List | 1981 | [Calgary Transit] | [link] | |
| Edmonton | Alberta | Edmonton LRT | 1978 | [ETS] | [link] | ||
| Montreal | Quebec | Montreal Metro | List | 1966 | [STM] | [link] | |
| Ottawa | Ontario | O-Train | List | 2001 | [O-Train] | ||
| Toronto | Ontario | Toronto subway/RT | List | 1954 | [TTC] | [link] | |
| Vancouver | British Columbia | SkyTrain | List | 1985 | [TransLink] | [link] | |
| York Region, Ontario | Ontario | Viva York | Bus Rapid Transit 2005 LRT/Subway 2025 | [link] |
Mexico
| Metropolitan area | State | Name of System | List of stations | Date opened | Official link | Other link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guadalajara | Jalisco | Guadalajara Metro (Note 4) | List | 1989 | [SITEUR] | [link] |
| Mexico City | DF | Mexico City Metro | List | 1969 | [STC] | [link] |
| Mexico City | DF | Xochimilco–Tasqueña tren ligero | List | 1980 (?) | [link] | [link] |
| Monterrey | Nuevo León | Monterrey Metro | List | 1991 | [Metrorrey] | [link] |
United States
This is a list of rapid transit systems only. For other systems:Also see
Notes
- Buffalo Metro Rail is mostly underground; there is a non-grade separated passage, but it is located within a pedestrian mall, with no vehicle traffic.
- An elevated section of the Chicago 'L' opened outside downtown as a steam railway in 1892; part of it downtown opened in 1897.
- Cleveland Rapid Transit includes one true metro line and two light rail lines operated together.
- Guadalajara metro includes one true metro line and one light rail line operated together.
- In 1897, streetcars began to use the tunnel in Boston. Rapid transit vehicles started using it in 1901.
- The oldest right-of-way used by the New York City Subway system opened in 1863 as a typical regional rail line in Brooklyn. The first elevated structure opened in 1868 in downtown Manhattan, but has been torn down. The oldest elevated structure still in use opened in 1885 in Brooklyn. The oldest line in Manhattan that is still in use opened in 1904, and was the first subway line.
- The Staten Island Railway uses R44 subway cars and is fully grade separated, but only has one short tunnel. The first passenger trains ran on the full line, at the time a typical rural regional rail line, in 1860. The line was electrified in 1925.[link] The last grade crossing was eliminated in 1966 [link] (however, the New York City Subway had one until 1983[link]).
- Funding for the Cincinnati Subway ran out in 1925, and the system has never been used.
- The Seattle Bus Tunnel began service in 1990, was shut down in 2005 for retrofitting to add light rail. The tunnel will reopen in 2007 for buses and light rail service is expected to begin in 2009.
South America
Notes
- Metro Valparaíso in Chile has a hybrid coverage, high frequencies for trips inside the city of Valparaíso and lower frequencies for urban and suburban trips. That means the same urban trip, plus the arrival to the "Limache" suburban station in the suburban city of the same name. The system has lower frequencies than a rapid transit or metro system (4 minutes in rush hour) and uses the city's mainline tracks (freight trains use it in the Metro service's off hours), but is a metro-like system because it has the same type of coverage (urban and suburban), near metro-standard frequencies and is projected to be a Metro-standard system in a few years.
- Biotren in Concepción, Chile, has lower frequencies than a rapid transit or metro system (12 minutes in rush hour) and uses the city's mainline tracks (freight trains use it in the Metro service's off hours), but is a metro-like system because it has the same type of coverage (totally urban), near metro-standard frequencies and is projected to be a Metro-standard system in a few years.
- Trolmérida and Transbarca, in Venezuela, are trolleybuses systems.
Oceania
In Australia, metros and mainline suburban railways are not separate concepts to the extent they are in most parts of the world; for examples, see Sydney CityRail and Melbourne Metlink.
| Country | City | Name of system | List of stations | Date opened | Official link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | Sydney | CityRail | List | [CityRail] | |
| Sydney Monorail | List | 1988 | [Sydney Monorail] | ||
| Melbourne | Melbourne Metlink | List | 1990 | [Melbourne Metlink] | |
| Brisbane, South East Queensland | CityTrain | List | [CityTrain] | ||
| Perth | Transperth Trains | List | [Transperth] |
Earliest Rapid Transit Systems
- 1863 London Underground
- 1867 Mumbai (pre-Metro)
- 1868 Ninth Avenue Elevated (New York City)
- 1875 Istanbul (pre-Metro)
- 1889 Napoli (pre-Metro)
- 1892 Chicago El
- 1893 Liverpool
- 1896 Glasgow, Budapest
- 1898 Vienna U-Bahn
- 1900 Paris Métro
- 1901 Boston (converted from an 1897 streetcar tunnel)
- 1901 Genoa (pre-metro)
- 1902 Berlin U-Bahn
- 1904 New York City Subway
- 1906 Milan Elevated Light Rail
- 1912 Hamburg U-Bahn
Rankings
For rail systems rankings, go to the following links:
- Top 10 metro systems in terms of annual passenger rides
- Top 10 metro systems in terms of number of stations
- List of urban rail systems by length
See also
- List of light-rail transit systems
- list of suburban and commuter rail systems
- Commuter rail in North America
- list of airport circulators
External links
- [urbanrail.net Guide to metro systems of the world]
- [CityRailTransit.com´s line-based list for the worldwide metro systems]
Books
- World Metro Systems by Paul Garbutt. Published by Capital Transport ISBN 1854141910
- Underground railways yesterday-today-tomorrow by W Hinkel, K Treiber, G Valenta, H Liebsch published by Schmid Verlag. ISBN3900607443
- Metro Maps Of The World by Mark Ovenden. Published by Capital Transport ISBN 1854142887 [link]
- Subways Of The World by Stan Fischler. Published by MBI. ISBN 0760307520
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