Going Down the Tube in November

The world's first underground railway opened in London, England in 1863 as a steam railway.  On November 4, 1890 the first electrified underground railway system, using a third rail,  was opened in London.  It ran some 3 1/2 miles and sadly almost nothing is left of the original line.  The tunnels were tubular, thus the term "tube" became synonymous with the London Underground. 

In some parts of the world metro systems are referred to as subways, U-Bahn or undergrounds. As of December 2018 there were 178 cities in 56 countries around the world that have approximately 180 metro systems.  The most metro systems are located in China  with 39.  The United States has 16 systems, including those in Honolulu and San Juan.

There is a dispute regarding the length of the systems due to the kind of lines included in the count.  We have chosen to go with the following list produced by Railway-technology.com.

The longest subway system in the world is in Seoul, South Korea.  It opened in 1974 and is 1,182.7km (734.9mi) long.  It has television, heated seats, and cellphone service.  In 2017 the annual ridership was 3.07 billion.

Shanghai Metro in China is the 2nd. longest system with a network of 468km (290.8 mi).  It is the third rapid transit system in mainline China and is expected to expand to 877km (544.9 mi). It opened in 1993 and had an annual ridership of 3.71 billion in 2018. A daily ridership record was set at 13.29 million on March 8, 2019.  

China's oldest metro system is in Beijing having opened in 1969.  It ranks as the 3rd. longest subway system with a total length of 456km (283.4mi).  The annual ridership in 2018 totaled 3.8484 billion with a daily ridership of 10 million.  It is the world's busiest metro system and by 2021 it is expected to expand to 998.5km (620mi).

The 4th longest subway system is the London Underground.  The "Tube" is 402km (949.8mi) long with an annual ridership estimated at 1.3 billion.

New York subway is the 5th longest subway system with a total route length of 368 km (228.7mi).  It began in 1904 and has 24 lines and 468 stations.  It is currently touted as having more stations than any other metro system and is open 24 hours a day.  About 60 % of the stations are underground.  The annual ridership in 2019 was about 1.698 billion.

The sixth longest subway system is in Moscow.  It opened in May 1935 and Stalin was said to have been the first passenger.  It is 317.5km (197.3mi) long with an annual ridership of 2.5 billion in 2018.  The stations display some of the most beautiful works of architectural design, some with frescos, mosaics and even chandeliers.

Tokyo ranks 7th among the longest subway systems at 310km (189mi) long.  It opened in 1927 and in 2018 had a daily ridership of 7.579 million.  Their system is kept on time with "oshiya", pushers,  to help the loading process.  We can attest to the fact they actually push you on the train. We were lined up like cattle in slots and shoved aboard!

Currently the Madrid Metro System is the world's 8th longest system with 293km (182.1mi) of track and an annual ridership of 657.2 million in 2018.  It began in 1919.

The 9th longest subway system is Guangzhou Metro system in southern China.  It has been in operation since 1997.  It is 232km (144.2mi) long and had an annual ridership of 3.31 billion in 2019.  It runs from 6a.m. to midnight with an average daily ridership over 7 million.

Paris Metro opened in 1900 and is the 10th longest metro system.  It is 214km (133 mi) long and is known for its unique entrances influenced by Art Nouveau. It had an estimated annual ridership of 1.520 billion in 2015.  

The first African metro system opened in Cairo in 1987 with 29km (18.02mi) of railway.  It has grown to 77.9km (48.4mi). In November 2011 the 2nd African system opened in Algiers.  While Tunis has a tram system, Lagos and Abidjan are constructing metro works.

In the southern hemisphere, Buenos Aires, Argentina opened their system in 1913.  While is it only 38.1 miles long, it hauls 1.3 million passengers a day!

Outside of London, the only major transit system that operates below ground in the United Kingdom is located in Glasgow, Scotland, the third largest city of the United Kingdom.  The system is entirely underground with 65 miles of rails, carrying 39,980 passengers daily. 

Hungary's Budapest Metro is the oldest underground railway system in continental Europe.  It began in 1896, is 16km (9.9mi) long and had an estimated ridership of 409.3 million in 2019.  It runs from 4:30am to 11pm daily.

Copenhagen Metro has a driverless system that runs 24 hours a day.  Montreal Metro has one of the lowest carbon footprints and is the only North American metro system to run on rubber-tired wheels. San Paulo, Brazil is only 101.1km (62.82mi) long,  but carries 3.5 million passengers each day.

We would like to share with you our recent award.  We are one of 50 photographers to have an image selected for display in the Cary Photographic Artists 13th Annual Juried Exhibit. 404 images were submitted by 137 photographic artists from 33 states. It was entered in the "color" section.  Please visit www.caryphotographicartists.org to see our "White Nights".

 "White Nights" was photographed in the Svalbard archipelago, located 600 miles south of the North Pole above Norway. It is a night that never gets completely dark, as the sun never descends below the horizon.  The colors that night were magnificent and seemed to be endless.

 This image is available in table top to wall size, triple matted and with or without a frame.  The matted versions are yours at a 10% discount and the framed matted versions in sizes 11x14 and larger can be yours at a 15% discount.

Visit our website, www.throughthelensoflee-margaret.com for available sizes and prices.

Stop by and see us on Monday through Friday from 10a.m. to 12 noon and 2:00p.m. to 5p.m.

The gallery is open for arranged Saturday appointments.  Call us at 904-387-8710 to schedule your special visit.  Come see us and order now.

"November always seemed to me the Norway of the year".

Emily Dickinson