A subway is a train system that is located underground, generally powered by electricity. However for some, it may be above ground or an elevated track. It has multiple track systems that spread underneath the city to make sure that people will reach their destinations. The fare is based on the length of the trip of a passenger .

Fact 1:

The London Underground was the world’s first subway system.  It was an underground railway system which opened in 1863. On its opening day, 30,000 went out to try The Tube where the Times mentioned it “the greatest engineering triumph of the day” .

Fact 2:

In 2013, the 10 largest subway system based on ridership are Tokyo (3.1 billion riders); Seoul (2.5 billion riders); Beijing (2.5 billion riders); Moscow (2.5 billion riders); Shanghai (2.3 billion riders); Guangzhou (1.8 billion riders); New York City (1.7 billion riders); Mexico City (1.6 million); Hong Kong (1.5 billion); Paris (1.5 billion).

Fact 3:

The 100-kilometer-long subway of Stockholm Sweden is known to have the world’s longest art from the early 1950’s up to the modern day. Around 90 of the 100 subway stations in Stockholm are graced with sculptures, mosaics, paintings, installations, engravings from 150 artists .

Fact 4:

Tokyo, Japan’s 200 miles’ subway system was first opened in in 1927 and has become the busiest metro system in the world servicing 8.7 million commuters a day, 3.2 billion commuters yearly. Metro officials have hired “pushers” who are tasked to safely cram as many people as possible in the subway cars .

The Tokyo Metro has women-only cars during the morning rush hour. This is to give a sense of security among female adults, elementary school and younger children .

Fact 5:

The New York City Subway is 110 years old and one of the few subways that offer 24 hours service to the riding public. It has the most stations in the whole world at 468 stations and has carried 1.71 billion passengers in 2014 .

Concealed under Track 24 in Grand Central Terminal is Track 61 where VIPs in the 1930s used this as their private entrance to the Waldorf-Astoria in town. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was its famous passenger who used it to conceal his disability. The platform was wide enough to hold Roosevelt’s limousine that will take him directly to Waldorf .

Fact 6:

The Metropolitain (or Necropolitain) has 213 kilometers (132 miles) of track with 16 lines and shuttling 3,553 cars.  Some of the metro stations are worth visiting like the one that stop for Louvre emitting a feeling that you have stepped inside the museum through the replicas of art works, marble walls and sculptures displayed .

Fact 7:

The Metro of Moscow began operating in 1935 and at present time, it is the fourth busiest transit system with more than 300 kilometers and 188 stops. The Moscow Metro was constructed lavishly under Stalin who wanted the metro to be “palaces for the people”. He ordered artists and architects to design structures that embody radiance that will make people look up  to admire the art.

The Moscow subway arts has bas-reliefs, friezes, marble and bronze statues, stained glass windows and Byzantine mosaics made from marble, glass and granite. After Stalin’s death in 1953, new stations built were now devoid with the mentioned artwork and architecture  but the grandiose art and designs of the early Metro still remain intact today.

Fact 8:

Dubai opened its metro system in September 2009 and was the first urban metro network in the Gulf’s Arab states.  1.74 million passengers used the metro during its first month. Dubai’s goal is to put 320 kilometers of metro lines in place by 2020. The Dubai Metro is the longest automated driverless metro system in the whole world .

Fact 9:

The Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway  aside from its convenient system and immaculately clean, it boasts to have free WiFi in its 42 stations. The subway has Braille plates for passengers with disabilities, There is no timetable for the metro as the trains comes every few minutes .

The MTR is connected to the train line that goes to the New Territories and all the way to the Chinese border. The North Point station has the longest escalators as high as the Jardine House Hong Kong

Fact 10:

Seoul, Korea’s subway system is presently the longest system in the world. It has wireless broadband in all of its stations and trains so you will always be connected. The train seats are also climate controlled and are warm during the Korean winter