This list of metro systems includes electrified

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...

train systems worldwide. In some parts of the world, metro systems are referred to as subways, undergrounds, tubes, mass rapid transit (MRT), metrô or U-Bahn. 204 cities in 65 countries operate 917 metro lines. The

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

first opened as an underground railway in 1863 and its first electrified underground line, the City and South London Railway, opened in 1890, making it the world's first deep-level electric metro system. The Budapest Millennium Underground Railway, which opened in 1896, was the world's first electric underground railway specifically designed for urban transportation and is still in operation today. The Shanghai Metro is both the world's longest metro network at and the busiest with the highest annual ridership reaching approximately 2.83 billion passenger trips. The

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...

has the greatest number of stations, with 472. the country with the most metro systems is China, with 54 in operation, including 11 of the 12 longest networks in the world.

Considerations

The International Association of Public Transport (, or UITP) defines metro systems as urban passenger transport systems, "operated on their own right of way and segregated from general road and pedestrian traffic". The terms

heavy rail Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid acceleratio ...

(mainly in North America) and heavy urban rail are essentially synonymous with the term "metro". Heavy rail systems are also specifically defined as an "electric railway". The dividing line between the metro and other modes of

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

, such as

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

and

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

, is not always clear. The UITP only makes distinctions between "metros" and "light rail", whereas the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) distinguish all three modes. A common way to distinguish metro from light rail is by their separation from other traffic. While light rail systems may share roads with car traffic or use sections of track with

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, o ...

s across roads, metro systems tend to run on a

grade-separated In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights ( grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tr ...

exclusive right-of-way with no access for other traffic. In contrast to commuter rail or light rail, metro systems are primarily used for transport within a city, and have higher service frequencies and substantially higher passenger volume capacities. Most metro systems do not share tracks with freight trains or

inter-city rail Inter-city rail services are Express train, express trains that run services that connect cities over longer distances than Commuter rail, commuter or Regional rail, regional trains. They include rail services that are neither short-distance co ...

services. It is not relevant whether the system runs on steel wheels or rubber tyres, or if the power supply is from a

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a track (r ...

or overhead line. The name of the system is not a criterion for inclusion or exclusion. Some cities use "metro" as a brand name for a transit line with no component of rapid transit whatsoever. Similarly, there are systems branded "light rail" that meet every criterion for being a rapid transit system. Some systems also incorporate light metro or light rail lines as part of the larger system under a common name. These are listed, but the light rail lines are not counted in the provided network data. Certain transit networks may match the service standards of metro systems, but reach far out of the city and are sometimes known as

S-Bahn The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...

, suburban, regional or commuter rail. These are not included in this list. Neither are

funicular A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep grade (slope), slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to ...

systems, or people movers, such as amusement park, ski resort and airport transport systems. This list counts metros separately when multiple metros in one city or metropolitan area have separate owners or operating companies. This list expressly does not aim at representing the size and scope of the total rapid transit network of a certain city or metropolitan area. The data in this list should not be used to infer the size of a city's, region's, or country's urban rail transit systems, or to establish a ranking.

Legend

; City: Primary city served by the metro system. ; Country:

Sovereign state A sovereign state is a State (polity), state that has the highest authority over a territory. It is commonly understood that Sovereignty#Sovereignty and independence, a sovereign state is independent. When referring to a specific polity, the ter ...

in which the metro system is located. ; Name: The most common English name of the metro system (including a link to the article for that system). ; Year opened: Metro around the world

The year the metro system was opened for commercial service at metro standards. In other words, parts of the system may be older, but as parts of a former

network, so the year that the system obtained metro standards (most notably electrification) is the one listed. ; Year of last expansion: The last time the system length or number of stations in the metro system was expanded. ; Stations: The number of stations in the metro network, with stations connected by transfer counted as one. ; System length:The system length of a metro network is the sum of the lengths of all routes in the rail network in kilometers or miles. Each route is counted only once, regardless of how many lines pass over it, and regardless of whether it is single-track or multi-track,

single carriageway A single carriageway (British English) is a road with one, two or more lanes arranged within a one carriageway with no central reservation, central reservation/median strip to separate opposing flows of traffic. A single-track road is a type of ...

or dual carriageway. ; Ridership: The number of unique journeys on the metro system every year. There is a major discrepancy between the ridership figures: some metro systems count transferring between lines as multiple journeys, but others do not. Numbers may also be counted via different methods – faregates/ turnstiles or light barriers at entrances or vehicle doors being the most common but far from the only ones.

List

; Table notes

List of countries by system length

Recent ridership figures, particularly for 2020, will have been affected by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Under construction

The following is a list of new worldwide metro systems that are currently actively under construction. In some cases it is not clear if the system will be considered a full metro system once it begins operational service. Only metro systems under construction are listed where there are no metro systems currently in operation in the same city. The countries of

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

are currently constructing their first ever metro systems.

Notes

System notes

Under construction notes

Ridership notes

References

System references

Ridership references

Sources

Bibliography

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Online resources

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External links

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European Metropolitan Transport Authorities (EMTA)

''Openstreetmap'' subway project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Metro systems Rapid transit systems *