DC, San Fran and Montreal all have great systems. NY's however may not be the cleanest or the most modern, but it certainly gets you just about anywhere in the city at any hour of the day on any day of the week.
We have upcoming orders for the new R211's and R262's. So its a BIT modern, at least. Heres a link that will tell you: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Technology_Train.
While DC can get you virtually anywhere throughout the district and surrounding suburbs, it is an extremely poorly managed system and often experiences unnecessary delays and sometimes closures between certain stations due to problems due to lack of proper maintenance, safety issues and frequent construction due to a prolonged lack of maintenance. I've been to Chicago, New York and Boston and spoken to people that use those systems and I can say that (as nice as our system in DC looks) it is by far one of the worst managed and most unreliable systems in the country. (Full disclosure, I live in Maryland, about 25 minutes from DC and have lived here my entire life. I somewhat regularly use the system too)
Ride Montreal's Metro, and find out for yourself. Architecturally beautiful, frequent service, very fast, and the new Azur trains have no equal. Crazy busy, 3rd busiest in North America.
I think maybe it wasn't counting the elevated lines? Or something? The cut-offs on what is and isn't a metro in this video can be a bit arbitrary, enough so that all of Vancouver didn't make the cut.
Jarren Butterworth yeah, i guess i can see how someone might not count the Expo & Millenium lines (they would be wrong though), but the Canada Line absolutely seems like a metro. especially if Miami’s counted, which isn’t underground at all. He did say that he should’ve included Vancouver in the description, though.
He didn't even count all the light rail lines. Lots of cities have light rail lines but no heavy rail subway. Adds on to some of the subways too. For example, Los Angeles' light rail system is much larger than their heavy rail subway (and while both are being expanded, the light rail is growing faster), and the two work together. Also doesn't count commuter rail lines using full sized trains (again, to use LA as an example, their's is called Metrolink and runs between five counties with one station in a sixth, with the main station for it (Union Station) being shared with both heavy rail subway lines and a light rail line).
Compared the rest of the world, the USA still has a long way to go in terms of developing metros in their cities. Albeit NYC, the rest all seem pretty low in terms of ridership
There’s nothing more ICONIC than riding up the escalator hearing “9 car Train to Daily City now approaching, Platform 1” and then hearing the sound of the train pulling up and then perfectly aligning with the platform markings, the new BART trains are great, but nothing will ever replace the nostalgia of the legendary 40 year old cars
The Plan is to Expand it to 130th St. Sharing With a Union Pacific Line S/O 95th Station, the 4 Stations would be at Following... 103rd St. 111th St. 115th/Michigan, or Just 115th st. &...130th st.in the Eden Green Riverdale, Golden Gate, Altgeld Gardens Section of the Far Southern Area of Chicago. This will be Fun for the CTA.
NYC is the best hands down. Although the service is not always timely nor clean, you cannot beat it for accessibility and price, also that it is open and runs 24/7/365, and for one fare you can ride all day.
NYC Subway is not a piece of shit. You probably don’t live here if you can’t appreciate how great the nyc subway is. Maybe Mexico City is better but the NYC subway The definitely the greatest in the US.
Especially the express services. Oh my god, they make what would probably be an hour on a local down to just half an hour or less with it being a thing. Thank New York for that too.
It wasn't in here but Vancouver. They have very frequent service (sometimes every 45 secs), driverless trains, and it operates above ground and gives great views across the transit bridge. The technology behind it is incredible.
1. BART (SF) - Fastest speeds, covers a lot of distance, frequent service and only a few transfer points so its easy to understand plus I love how the trains come into the stations very swiftly and (almost) always manage to stop exactly at the door markings on the platform. 2. WMATA (DC) - Similar to BART in some ways including distance based fares, beautiful stations that feel very civilized and consistent, doesn't share tracks much so problems (which there are many lately) at least might not bring the whole system down. 3. Chicago - Old world charm, interesting wooden platforms etc and its really cool the way it weaves around buildings so close 4. PATH - Pretty simple system without frills but it moves pretty well for being ancient and doesn't seem to have a ton of problems 5. LA Metro - The Red line is both flashy and fun (some of the stations have lots of Hollywood decor) but also seems like a hard working busy piece of transit in a city not thought of as a transit hot spot.
3. Chicago - Old world charm, interesting wooden platforms etc and its really cool the way it weaves around buildings so close >>> Most, if not all of the wooden platforms have been replaced … unfortunately.
Couldn't agree more. I must say, it sure was a fascinating experience to ride that BART. At first glance, upon entering the terminal, you'd almost expect the Disney Monorail to pull in. It's hard to explain, but their overall decor just has that certain nostalgic space age vibe to it. Guess the same can be said about the WMATA, heh. Very illuminating out there in DC.
1. Wash DC. It is very mobile and you can grab a station from almost anywhere in Maryland in under a hour 2. NYC. Just the amount of time they put into there workers as a 24/7/365 timer 3. Balt. Even though it is a small route, the MTA has other lines like MARC and RTA buses that can pretty much take you anywhere from the station you arrive at.
How can you grab a station from almost anywhere in Maryland when DC Metro only goes through PG and Montgomery county Maryland, which are suburbs of DC, the rest of the state of Maryland lacks a good transit system 😂
NYC isn’t only the subways. It’s the bus system, the Long Island Rail Road, and metro north, not to even mention New Jersey Transit along the path train. It’s massive size will most likely get you close to where you need to be and the system reaches deep into the boroughs
If you count buses that changes the entire analysis. Seattle has a single light rail (underground until it goes a bit south of downtown), but a massive bus system to compensate (almost as many articulated buses as NYC). It's a great transit system but it doesn't fit in this analysis because of that.
@@commonsense6512 , yep, it's about 14 miles (the same distance as the South Jersey-Phila. PATCO Line) and runs the length of Staten Island from the St. George Ferry Terminal to Tottenville, the southernmost point in NY State. It's run by NYC Transit, the current fleet is almost 50 years old and does not connect with the Subway system in the other 4 boros. Hopefully someday they'll restore service on Staten Island's North Shore.
Rode the Montreal’s subway....what can I say? It was so clean, so quiet, so efficient. But oh so French! Love how the PA system pronounced Sherbrooke as “ Cher Brook eh”.
For some reason, that is actually considered to be the proper French pronunciation of that name here. On the other hand, some station names are definitely butchered by the announcer, even from a francophone Québécois' (my) perspective. My favourite (and one I often jokingly quote) has to be "Méguille" instead of "McGill". Never fails to crack me up. I mean, I'm all for preserving French in Montréal, but I do believe that a little effort could be made when announcing English station names.
I lived in Montreal for several years and the Metro was great. We didn’t have a car so it was our main mode of transportation. The rubber tires make it quieter and the architecture of most of the stations are aesthetically unmatched. The other cool part of the Montreal Metro is the underground cities that are attached to many of the stations downtown. I lived there when Lionel-Groulx opened. I remember how futuristic and modern I always thought it was. I used to take the metro from de l’église to Atwater every day to go to school at Westmount High School. Fun fact: I went to school with Kamala Harris in 1980 at Westmount. Go Joe!
You missed New Jersey’s PATCO subway, running from downtown Philadelphia to Lindenwold, NJ. I think it’s a shame that financial reasons and political priorities caused systems in Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, and New Jersey (both PATH and PATCO) from making needed expansions into farther and faster growing suburbs in late 20th century, when other metros are expanding its Metro system (DC, SF, Atlanta).
Path except for an extension to EWR werves a very specific need. The more general need is provided by NJT, MentoNorth and the LIRR giving the region a massive rail presence.
i speak french. the pink line, i dont know if/think it will see the day. for the blue thats sure possible to build. i live in mtl. i never been in ny but i saw a lot of footage of mta subway and yes it seems really complex(positive way). as for montreal i adore it its my city.
I've been on more than a few of these and the SkyTrain is severely lacking compared to the likes. I've seen crazy shit on subways, 75% of that is on the SkyTrain.
why consider the chicago L a metro but not the vancouver skytrain? both systems use standard gauge, are mostly above ground, and typically run trains with only 4 cars.
Guadalajara has its own Light Rail System, it has two lines and a third line is almost complete, also a fourth line is planned, Monterrey has metro but by international standards it's considered as a light rail system
Having lived in DC, Chicago, and Oakland within the last 3 years, I'd rank it 1) Chicago/CTA, 2) DC/WMATA, 3) Oakland(i.e. SF)/BART. I appreciated the fact the CTA seems like a true workhorse. It isn't flashy but it covers a good deal of the key areas of the city and neighborhoods, has reasonably frequent service and extensive hours (including 24/7 on the red & blue lines), is reasonably priced, and the CTA continues to focus on the importance of getting the system to a state of good repair for better safety and reliability in the years ahead (including a current rebuild of portions of the red/purple lines from Lawrence to Bryn Mawr and the brown line flyover north of Belmont). It's not as clean as WMATA, but seems much cleaner than BART. As for downsides, the trains are much narrower owing to the narrower tracks which they're stuck with since that is the gauge used back when the first train line was developed in the 1890s). For DC/WMATA, I love the architecture of the stations (in general I do not like brutalism but the concrete vault stations are quite attractive), the cleanliness of the system, and the air conditioning in the stations (when it's actually working), though service frequencies could be better and it seems more prone to system breakdowns (doors not working causing trains to go offline, forcing riders to offboard and crowd onto the following trains, all while the system backs up while awaiting removal of the malfunctioning train). For BART, basically the same technology as DC/WMATA, though the cleanliness of the system pales in comparison. And the fact it travels just one subway route through SF means there is a lot of the city that it misses (you can transfer to MUNI but that system isn't as extensive as it should be either). Plus service frequencies on the different east bay branches seem less than the various lines in Chicago and DC.
I only know the New York subway first hand as a native; I've ridden the T in Boston and the SEPTA many years ago. New York gets slammed a lot but the system is fast; it's three and four track local/express is unique in the world. The Philly Broad Street line is a four track L/E system; the only one out side of New York's as far as I know! Three and four track system would probably be cost prohibitive today! You can ride the entire system on one swipe of your Metrocard! There are always repairs and reconstruction going on but during the rush hours, the system does its thing well! The system is nearly entirely underground in Manhattan except for the 125 Street station on the #1 which climbs to an extraordinary height above the street then submerges again to its terminus! The outer boroughs (Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx have a combination of both elevated and underground lines! Staten Island, although part of the city system, is literally miles apart from the rest of the City and has one line running from St. George where the ferries from Manhattan come in, to Tottenville at the southern most end of the borough! Probably the most unique thing about the New York system is its 24/7 and express/local service! You cannot be stranded in the city if you have a Metrocard and a map. When I was in high school back in the 60's, I rode very line in the city including the Staten Island line which involved taking a ferry to reach it! That was one of the most unusual lines in the city, almost entire on street level and by time it reached mid-line along the route I was seeing FARMS, yes, farms within the City of New York! To be inside a subway car and look and see cows, silos, horses, etc., blew my mind! One of my bucket dreams is to ride every system in the U.S. and if time and money permitted, subways around the world. I coined the term 'URBANRAILER' in 2009 to describe those of us who love trains in general but have a special place for subways and other urban bus and rail systems! So, if you are a person who loves subways, light rail, trolleys, buses and commuter rail roads, then you are an 'urbanrailer'!!
if you could do this again, include MBTA green line as a subway, mention underground portions, take new videos (as some cities have modernised rolling stock), and include Vancouver and update Toronto to say "first rapid transit system in Canada, first in North America after WWII"
Exactly. If you are analyzing the MBTA, that includes the green line which goes underground and has significant ridership. The underground portion that was part of the first subway in America became the green line.
I've been a Subway fan since the age of 12. I've been on all five. This is my top 5. I include length, safety, and ridership......1. Mexico City 2. Montreal 3. Toronto 4. Chicago 5 NYC
@@chickenbokernot2598 When he borrows other people's footage, he puts their names onscreen. So when you don't see "Video by *whatever name, other than Timothy Migliore", it's Tim's own footage. So yes, he does actually travel around and film these systems.
@@yozie18 In comparison to other forms of subway in North America, Montreal is by far quietest. The rubber tyres alone make it a smoother and quiet ride than steel wheeled subway/train (screeching intensifies, etc.). That is not to say rubber tyre trains are quiet (almost all forms of subway/metro are loud) but compared to steel wheels, yes Rubber tyres are indeed quieter. Born and living in MTL my entire life.
34 street Hudson yards station or The Second Avenue station or World Trade Center station is probably your favorite station Take the 7 train to 34 street Hudson yards Take the E or N or R or W train to World Trade Center station Take the Q to Second Ave station
Timosha21: Big error about Mexico City Metro stations only being named for "historical figures". Contrary to what you state, many stations are named after a location or neighborhood as well as some important building or attraction nearby. Some examples are: Salto de Agua (water fountain), Observatorio, Universidad, Autobuses del Norte, Chapultapec, Bellas Artes, Tasqueña, Insurgentes, Puebla, Zócalo, La Villa (Guadalupe Basilica). These are just a few of the stations that I have used and know that they are not named for a person. All stations employ an icon based on the name of the station and is unique to that station. This system of icons was developed when the Metro first opened to help the many people who cannot read. If a rider needs to exit at Salto de Agua, for example, the icon is a big fountain sprinkling drops of water up and over. When the rider sees that fountain icon at the station, he or she knows it's time to exit. Every station displays its own icon on the platforms, the concourses, and at every entrance. The route map for that line on each car (trains are dedicated to serve one line only) shows the icon next to the name of the station. If I remember correctly, the large system maps displayed on station walls also show a station's icon next to its name. It makes using the system so much easier for all, especially for those who can't read. As an aside, another fun fact about Mexico City Metro - the first car is designated for women and young children only. This practice is in response to blatant and continual bad behavior by men. Women would be subjected to groping and grabbing by lechers and other ill-mannered, uncouth men. Not restricted to the first car, women may ride in any car if they so desire. You're welcome.
I've only tried four of the ones featured in this video: New York City, PATH (New Jersey), Washington and Montréal. Of those, NYC and PATH are the most convenient (since they operate around the clock - you never have to worry about missing the last train), Washington has a certain retro charm, and Montréal is probably the quietest and most state of the art.
Having travelled to many parts of world and riding many metros/subways I can say one thing with certainty - NOTHING beats the Moscow Metro for beauty and appeal!
I will have to go with NYC MTA because of convience, but I like the MARTA in Atlanta, the Metro in DC and MBTA in Boston. NYC MTA is older than what was mentioned in the video. Some lines were apart of another transit system before it became part of the MTA. The BRT later to be named the BMT lines have been running since the 1880s. Alot of them don't exist any more but several still run to this day. The Jamaica line and the Canarsie line and the Franklin Ave Shuttle are the oldest lines running today.
Excellent video - a couple of minor things SEPTA is Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority Southeastern is one word PATCO ( Philly-New Jersey ) should be included.
Philly also has 14 regional rail lines, most of which include stations within the city, many built before the first subways. Two underground stations connect the old Pennsy and Reading commuter lines.
So if you excluded PATCO what is BART doing there? It is basically a commuter rail system considering its character of having only one or two stations per Settlement outside San Francisco and Oakland and the Long lines out of downtown. It just uses third rail supply and a common corridor for several lines. But that does SEPTA Regional as well in downtown Philadelphia. We have this in Germany as well. Hamburg and Berlin both have a 3rd rail commuter network and a separate Metro (Berlin with two load gauges similar to New Yorks IRT and BMT/IND) also using 3rd rail. The only one I know and used in America was Philadelphia. It could not cope with my German favourite Hamburg. Philly was dirty, poorly signed and noisy. Most downtown stairways into the mezzanines smelled like a toilet facility, what obviously is their main use at Friday and Saturday night. So difficult to say what is my favourite from the ones I don't know. New York for sure is of an impressive size and Chicago's Loop is cooler than 100 tunnels below downtown. So I declare them both winner.
They did. And what confuses me is that they include PATH, which is actually a Class 1 railroad (track connection between PATH and the FRA railroad network exists between Harrison and Jersey City. PATCO has no track connections and is not considered a railroad by FRA definition. Staten Island Railway has the traits of both. Although part of NYC's New York City Transit, Its separate from the subway, and is considered a Class 1A railroad. It use to have a connection to the FRA rail network but that was severed in the last 20 years or so but its "1A" status allows exemption from most FRA rules.
@@ixofxiii correction PATH operates like a Subway despite its classification. And the connection was severed years ago, but PATH retains the FRA class for better pay and better quality standards for equipment and such. PATCO has a connection to NJT Atlantic City Line (which itself connects to the Amtrak Northeast Corridor at Shore Interlocking in Philly) at Lindenwold via an escape yard from the PATCO yard there.
For as much as the green line in Boston technically isn't heavy rail, excluding it seems a little frustrating, as it is a central underground artery for much of it's journey, and how many people use a combination of green and other lines.
I’ve only been on Montreal’s and Vancouver’s. Both seemed pretty good, but Vancouver’s was probably better because: -It’s driverless -It’s mostly elevated so you can see outside -I thought it looked more modern and cleaner, especially the very comfortable Canada Line trains But Montreal’s is also very useful. I get the impression that Chicago and New York’s trains actually move quite slowly compared to other ones, is that true?
Same reason they excluded Boston's Green Line, LA's Blue line and only mentioned Cleveland sharing three stations with but didnt include their light rail. Its all light rail. Technically, Light rail isnt "Rapid Transit"- or Heavy rail. The Norristown line is unique because its a hybrid of light and heavy but operates as a light rail. IIRC< the trolleys are part of the Surface division (buses)
Probably because he included those as light rail. A subway train has multiple cars not just one of two. The fact that single car trolleys run 50 feet apart in the tunnels should tell you that. Especially in the zone where the blue line trains run express in the center.
As a Maryland (DC Metro Area) native who grew up and lives in the WMATA ecosystem, I'm obviously biased towards the DC Metro. But I would also love to try the Montreal system someday.
It’s sad this doesn’t include light rail. In fact if we include light rail, most major American cities have passenger rail, just not a subway system. Light rail works perfect for areas such as Phoenix where there isn’t density to support a full metro, but still give the citizens a decent rail system to get to and from places. Light rail systems connect more with buses than they do with trains.
@REd Light It's not sad light rail is not included. The feature is about heavy rail systems. You said it yourself, light rail is different. The light rail projects I have seen all have been to some extent failures. But that is in California. Infrastructure projects intended to promote development do not seem to work here. If you want, study the San Jose-Santa Clara County light rail system. The original northern portion of it, which goes to areas where there is employment in the high-tech industries has a lot of ridership. The original southern branch has going to the Santa Teresa area had little ridership when it started in 1987 and still doesn't have a lot now. The system has since expanded and I don't know where is and isn't a lot of ridership in the rest of it. The situation may be different in other parts of the country. But light rail and heavy rail are different entities. You need a lot of ridership to support heavy rail.
Cities like San Francisco, LA, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Cleveland have Light Rail in addition to Metro. All of them except Cleveland have pretty good commuter rail systems too.
Montreal's Metro stations are incredibly beautiful and each one has a unique style theme. It's a shame you didn't have one starting out in this video because they make a really cool melodic sound when they start moving.
I heard that in Toronto on the TTC all the older T1 trains will be retired in 2025 or so and Line 2 (Bloor-Danforth line) will have the newer Rocket trains like on Line 1 (Yonge University Spadina) and Line 4 (Sheppard line) even though they are doing all sorts of alterations to the older T1 trains like adding CCTV to them and LED signs that say which direction the train is going it’s like with the old streetcars (the CLRVs and the ALRVs) they added this feature where the streetcar would announce the route and the final destination stop and the even change the flooring on some of the ALRVs I don’t know why they would do all this work on these older streetcars right before retiring them? And they are doing all this work on the T1 trains when in about 5 years or so they will be retired
The Atlanta Subway sounds like the NYC train Edit: i am in NYC so that means i have taken the Subway’s Plus i toke the washitong DC train too and Dominican republic
It's hard making a comparison if you haven't had experience of that metro. I've ridden on the metro in New York, Toronto, Montréal, London, and Paris. I like Paris the best. It has the widest platforms, the stations are closer together so you can get closer to whatever destination, and its clean. Paris' biggest problem is that it's not good if you have mobility issues. No lifts. Next is New York, for the sheer busyness and size of it all. They're all good though.
1-New York City Subway (MTA) 2-Mexico City 3-Toronto 4-LA (Light Rail) Not the Subway 1-Cuz I’m a proud New Yorker and you can get anywhere in the city for 2.75 Also our Subway is diverse because of the 3 major companies that made our Subway look and work also the Renovations make every station look different and not as identical as in DC 2-The Efficiency of the CDMX Metro is good tho whenever any of the trains stops you kinda get pushed back 3-The Flashiness of the TTC and the easy ness of they whole system make it excellent 4 LA-Light rail gets you places, The Metro just sticks to the NorthWest and is truncated there
I live in Toronto and our subway system has four lines with two under construction! BUT....the subway system has too many delays. Like there's some problems with it and there's closures like every weekend! But I like the subway trains itself and the stations. It's convinient to get around the city. I've also been to Montreal and over there, I rode it twice! The metro also has four lines but their system is entirely underground and rubber-tyred. The metro is clean, sleek and comfortable and their trains are pretty cool especially their new trains. The only problem is that these trains don't have AC and it gets hot in the summer. It also has some delays as well but both Toronto and Montreal have pretty cool subway systems!
I’m stuck between DC and Mexico City! Mexico City for its cleanliness and colorful ness, but I like Washington DC’s metro for the cleanliness and modern design!
NYC for its varied infrastructure and equipment and convenience, as it goes basically everywhere in the city. Might not be well maintained, but it was express trains, local trains, and runs 24/7.
@@bluebreeze4258 It's a completely separated "advanced light rail" line using third rail, LIM motors, uses 4 or 6 car metro trains and has double the capacity of light rail with no ground level crossings. Actually, when it's on the ground there's a huge fence with barbed wire so you don't electrocute yourself. Yeah, I'd consider that a metro line.
@@bluebreeze4258 no it's not but we do have LRT coming in soon if you look you can probably find a video of the prime minister announcing funding for the new system
1. RTA (Cleveland) I like this one because it features one heavy rail line (red) and two light rail lines (blue & green). Cleveland's system is extremely under rated because many people don't normally visit Cleveland. Also, Cleveland has little funding and is operating on a shoestring. The Red Line actually has trains every 15 minutes (off peak) and every 10 minutes (at peak). They operate until 3:00 Am with red line trains every 15 minutes. The light rail lines operate every 30 minutes (off peak) and every 20 minutes (at peak).
05:25 Actually not true, every station in Mexico City’s metro is named after a place. The only thing is that in Mexico, a lot of places are named after public figures…
PATH is actually centered in Jersey City with 4 stations. Its only Newark stop is at Penn Station. Newark still had its former Public Service City Subway, now named Newark Light Rail with an extension to Bloomfield and a branch through the arts district to Broad Street Station. If San Juan is part of North America for this video, so should be Santo Domingo, whose metro opened in 2008 for VIPs and 2009 for the riding public. The Montreal segment left out the new Azur trains and the large fleet of cars with motors that play the first notes of Fanfare for the Common Man when taking power. The last bit of the Toronto segment showed the Scarborough Rapid Transit, which predates Skytrain with the same design and connects with the east end of the Bloor Danforth subway.
One quibble: Boston may have the oldest subway, but part of the ex-BMT Jamaica elevated line dates to 1885, a dozen years before Boston's tunnel opened. If you give Chicago a start date of 1892 because of the South Side elevated, despite the fact that Chicago had no subway until 1943, then 1885 is a reasonable date for New York, as that is the oldest existing route still in use. The els in Manhattan and Brooklyn, of course, go back even farther, to the 1870s, and the original els were part of the same system when the IRT opened its first subway in 1904.
I would give the date of high voltage electrification as the as the starting date of any system. You gotta admit, all of them put Lionel to shame. What a train set New York has!
Such low passenger numbers on some of these systems. The London Underground by comparison carries up to about 5 million passengers daily. Considering how much it must have cost to build, run, and maintain these systems are they still judged to be cost effective regarding their usage?
Most of them are very small systems nothing like London so the cost isn't too high to build and maintain. Although that is a good question after all billions and billions were spent on them and the vast majority of Americans never step foot on these systems let alone use them. Although NYCT does carry 5.5 million daily.
Hello, I am a Barcelonian railfan. Good compilation, although you forgotten two: Mexican Monterrey, and diminutive but very interesting Washington Capitol Subway.
barcelonian Both the Mexican cities of Monterrey and Guadalajara only have a light rail system that just happens to be partially underground, Mexico City is the only Mexican City with a true subway system!
@Zanda Williams yes, atlanta is spread out city, and marta rail isn't very big, so most often you live outside walking distance of subway system if you're in atlanta and need a car
A had ride Mexico City metro, NYC, LAs, San Fran, Paris, London, Rome’s, Barcelona, Atlanta, Washington, New Jersey, the one I like the most is CDMX for many reasons.
If you ever visit Puerto Rico take the Urban Train (Tren Urbano) to River Stone (Rio Piedras) and walk towards the south end of the end and you will see a tunnel, it's was going to be for phase 3 for an extension east to Carolina but due to lack of funding is not being considered at this time. They operate 4 cars weekdays & 2 cars on evening and weekends. Both terminals of the Urban Train are elevated and island platform, connecting with the Sacred Heart University ( Universidad del Sagrado Corazón) & UPR main campus at University (Universidad) one of 2 underground stations in the system. It connects with 2 court house at Deportivo & Piñero and it operates 7 days a week from 5:30am to 11:30pm unless special events at the Choliseo that is next to Hato Rey station & the Saint Sebastian Fest in mid January in Old San Juan
NYC is the best (but the worst smelling -LoL!) the enormity of the operation 24/7 , number of intertwining stations and track, massive amount of people moved...and the views from the elevated stations and bridge crossings are spectacular. NOTE: Smith/9th Sts Station is the highest elevated station in the world. If you are in the NYC subway system, you CAN get there from here.
The TTC is the most heavily used urban mass transit system in Canada and the third largest in North America, after the New York City Transit Authority and Mexico City Metro.[3]
PATH fare cards are not compatible with NYC Subway. You cannot use them on the NYC Subway. However, you can use the MTA MetroCard (pay-per-ride only) on PATH.
I hate getting stuck in traffic so I use the metro trains. I have used NYC SUbway, Washington DC Metro, Delhi, Singapore, and HK Metro. I really like the NYC Subway cause it is 24/7 and can take you anywhere. Singapore ones are nice but they are only till 12am
DC, San Fran and Montreal all have great systems. NY's however may not be the cleanest or the most modern, but it certainly gets you just about anywhere in the city at any hour of the day on any day of the week.
We have upcoming orders for the new R211's and R262's. So its a BIT modern, at least. Heres a link that will tell you:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Technology_Train.
San Juan is the best train from my favorite island Puerto Rico rail system
Except the airports.
@@Apple-ew4xp Not directly, though. You have to get on a special people mover to actually get there.
I mean la has a tram but I’m not sure if it counts as a subway or a metro.
NYC for just the pure Scale of it. Washington DC for it's usefulness.
While DC can get you virtually anywhere throughout the district and surrounding suburbs, it is an extremely poorly managed system and often experiences unnecessary delays and sometimes closures between certain stations due to problems due to lack of proper maintenance, safety issues and frequent construction due to a prolonged lack of maintenance. I've been to Chicago, New York and Boston and spoken to people that use those systems and I can say that (as nice as our system in DC looks) it is by far one of the worst managed and most unreliable systems in the country. (Full disclosure, I live in Maryland, about 25 minutes from DC and have lived here my entire life. I somewhat regularly use the system too)
kahnj ands that's one of the reasons why LA Metro is better.
and Vancouver for its innovative driverlessness.
I'm a #ProudDCNative so my vote is for WMATA
steve b Why do you care.
Ride Montreal's Metro, and find out for yourself. Architecturally beautiful, frequent service, very fast, and the new Azur trains have no equal. Crazy busy, 3rd busiest in North America.
texasabbott agreed 100%
Definitely needs expansions
They only travel at 72.9km/h but the mr-63/73can go at 102.7km/h
ps:not sure for azur
No, Toronto is third behind Mexico city and New York.
4th busiest you meant
There's so many smaller US metro systems I didn't even know existed. Such tiny tiny ridership numbers too.
I was surprised how low Chicago was tbh
I think maybe it wasn't counting the elevated lines? Or something? The cut-offs on what is and isn't a metro in this video can be a bit arbitrary, enough so that all of Vancouver didn't make the cut.
Jarren Butterworth yeah, i guess i can see how someone might not count the Expo & Millenium lines (they would be wrong though), but the Canada Line absolutely seems like a metro. especially if Miami’s counted, which isn’t underground at all.
He did say that he should’ve included Vancouver in the description, though.
He didn't even count all the light rail lines. Lots of cities have light rail lines but no heavy rail subway. Adds on to some of the subways too. For example, Los Angeles' light rail system is much larger than their heavy rail subway (and while both are being expanded, the light rail is growing faster), and the two work together. Also doesn't count commuter rail lines using full sized trains (again, to use LA as an example, their's is called Metrolink and runs between five counties with one station in a sixth, with the main station for it (Union Station) being shared with both heavy rail subway lines and a light rail line).
Compared the rest of the world, the USA still has a long way to go in terms of developing metros in their cities. Albeit NYC, the rest all seem pretty low in terms of ridership
There’s nothing more ICONIC than riding up the escalator hearing “9 car Train to Daily City now approaching, Platform 1” and then hearing the sound of the train pulling up and then perfectly aligning with the platform markings, the new BART trains are great, but nothing will ever replace the nostalgia of the legendary 40 year old cars
Its just like the highways pretty much
You revoked a childhood memory of mine
Do they say the number of cars?
Chicago, except the L needs to be extended south of 95th street to 140. Love the fact that you can take the CTA to both O'Hare or Midway.
They are planning to extend it to 130th St.
The Plan is to Expand it to 130th St. Sharing With a Union Pacific Line S/O 95th Station, the 4 Stations would be at Following...
103rd St.
111th St.
115th/Michigan, or Just 115th st.
&...130th st.in the Eden Green Riverdale, Golden Gate, Altgeld Gardens Section of the Far Southern Area of Chicago.
This will be Fun for the CTA.
Yes Charles, I rode from O'Hare to downtown Loop. Such a nice ride!
I love the L in Chicago, only wish they had more underground (subway) routes, I think it's only the red and blue lines that have the subways
Wow lucky you guys. The NYC subway can’t even extend to fucking LaGuardia Airport. Dang
NYC is the best hands down. Although the service is not always timely nor clean, you cannot beat it for accessibility and price, also that it is open and runs 24/7/365, and for one fare you can ride all day.
Inga Hicks Mexico City by far cheaper the New York City Subway is a piece of shit and it's not up to world standards.
NYC Subway is not a piece of shit. You probably don’t live here if you can’t appreciate how great the nyc subway is. Maybe Mexico City is better but the NYC subway The definitely the greatest in the US.
Especially the express services. Oh my god, they make what would probably be an hour on a local down to just half an hour or less with it being a thing. Thank New York for that too.
And it has express trains.
And not to mention 2.75 just for the whole 8th Avenue Line (31 miles)?
New York for its scale, history and ridership.
Washington for the architecture.
Vancouver for its innovation.
Vancouver's transit technically isn't a subway it's a Sky Train
The Skytrain is a Metro too. There are Undergroundstations in Vancouver used by the Skytrain
@M I N G A E watch this 👆🏻
More of a subway than Miami's lol
Looks like most of Chicago is elevated... not that it matters.
It wasn't in here but Vancouver. They have very frequent service (sometimes every 45 secs), driverless trains, and it operates above ground and gives great views across the transit bridge. The technology behind it is incredible.
1. BART (SF) - Fastest speeds, covers a lot of distance, frequent service and only a few transfer points so its easy to understand plus I love how the trains come into the stations very swiftly and (almost) always manage to stop exactly at the door markings on the platform.
2. WMATA (DC) - Similar to BART in some ways including distance based fares, beautiful stations that feel very civilized and consistent, doesn't share tracks much so problems (which there are many lately) at least might not bring the whole system down.
3. Chicago - Old world charm, interesting wooden platforms etc and its really cool the way it weaves around buildings so close
4. PATH - Pretty simple system without frills but it moves pretty well for being ancient and doesn't seem to have a ton of problems
5. LA Metro - The Red line is both flashy and fun (some of the stations have lots of Hollywood decor) but also seems like a hard working busy piece of transit in a city not thought of as a transit hot spot.
Good Point!!!!!!!!
3. Chicago - Old world charm, interesting wooden platforms etc and its really cool the way it weaves around buildings so close >>> Most, if not all of the wooden platforms have been replaced … unfortunately.
Couldn't agree more. I must say, it sure was a fascinating experience to ride that BART. At first glance, upon entering the terminal, you'd almost expect the Disney Monorail to pull in. It's hard to explain, but their overall decor just has that certain nostalgic space age vibe to it. Guess the same can be said about the WMATA, heh. Very illuminating out there in DC.
BART is very pricy
Bart is more like commuter rail though
None of the Montreal clips had the new Azur rolling stock. The MR-63 has been retired since June.
Ali Ullah the filmer probably filmed before the azur got into service but it's true that the azur are way better
1. Wash DC. It is very mobile and you can grab a station from almost anywhere in Maryland in under a hour
2. NYC. Just the amount of time they put into there workers as a 24/7/365 timer
3. Balt. Even though it is a small route, the MTA has other lines like MARC and RTA buses that can pretty much take you anywhere from the station you arrive at.
How can you grab a station from almost anywhere in Maryland when DC Metro only goes through PG and Montgomery county Maryland, which are suburbs of DC, the rest of the state of Maryland lacks a good transit system 😂
NYC isn’t only the subways. It’s the bus system, the Long Island Rail Road, and metro north, not to even mention New Jersey Transit along the path train. It’s massive size will most likely get you close to where you need to be and the system reaches deep into the boroughs
you forgot staten island railway.
Exactly
If you count buses that changes the entire analysis. Seattle has a single light rail (underground until it goes a bit south of downtown), but a massive bus system to compensate (almost as many articulated buses as NYC). It's a great transit system but it doesn't fit in this analysis because of that.
@@commonsense6512 , yep, it's about 14 miles (the same distance as the South Jersey-Phila. PATCO Line) and runs the length of Staten Island from the St. George Ferry Terminal to Tottenville, the southernmost point in NY State. It's run by NYC Transit, the current fleet is almost 50 years old and does not connect with the Subway system in the other 4 boros. Hopefully someday they'll restore service on Staten Island's North Shore.
MTA is a piece of 💩
BART: it covers a high amount of ground,helps skip traffic,it's simple map so you can understand,and it's "accurate" timing for trains.
and it's the only one that connects 3 major us cities, and 2 major international airports
Well it *will* connect 3 because it hasn’t quite made it to San Jose
wong 2750 it’s gonna cross 101 soon
Colin Prower I am aware
Also has poop & used needles 😋
you forgot the Vancouver Skytrain Transit. it's driverless and powered by magnetic tracks, although it's manually operated at the transit centre.
Rode the Montreal’s subway....what can I say? It was so clean, so quiet, so efficient. But oh so French! Love how the PA system pronounced Sherbrooke as “ Cher Brook eh”.
It was the law reinforcement. However emergency information on the metro is done in bilingual
At wa-terre
For some reason, that is actually considered to be the proper French pronunciation of that name here. On the other hand, some station names are definitely butchered by the announcer, even from a francophone Québécois' (my) perspective.
My favourite (and one I often jokingly quote) has to be "Méguille" instead of "McGill". Never fails to crack me up. I mean, I'm all for preserving French in Montréal, but I do believe that a little effort could be made when announcing English station names.
Americans butcher Bâton-Rouge, Louisiana and Détroit, Michigan!
The ridership that you show for Atlanta is for the combined ridership of buses and trains, not just the subway.
You haft to include all I guess
It says 22 million idk
Montreal has New trains and The blue line is under extension .
I lived in Montreal for several years and the Metro was great. We didn’t have a car so it was our main mode of transportation. The rubber tires make it quieter and the architecture of most of the stations are aesthetically unmatched. The other cool part of the Montreal Metro is the underground cities that are attached to many of the stations downtown. I lived there when Lionel-Groulx opened. I remember how futuristic and modern I always thought it was. I used to take the metro from de l’église to Atwater every day to go to school at Westmount High School. Fun fact: I went to school with Kamala Harris in 1980 at Westmount. Go Joe!
Montreal 💪
It’s crazy how you met the pontentialy president
You missed New Jersey’s PATCO subway, running from downtown Philadelphia to Lindenwold, NJ. I think it’s a shame that financial reasons and political priorities caused systems in Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, and New Jersey (both PATH and PATCO) from making needed expansions into farther and faster growing suburbs in late 20th century, when other metros are expanding its Metro system (DC, SF, Atlanta).
agreed
Path except for an extension to EWR werves a very specific need. The more general need is provided by NJT, MentoNorth and the LIRR giving the region a massive rail presence.
PATCO May be building a connection to musical hill New Jersey now
Never knew Cleveland had a subway, lol
Because they didn’t 😂😂
It's not Detroit!
@@andrewjchristian they have for over 30 years, what are you talking about
so does San Juan P.R.,Wow!
Richard Cheng wait what!!!
My favourite is Washington D.C. metro and Montreal. By the way in Montreal there is a new line coming and there going to expand the blue line ;)
i speak french. the pink line, i dont know if/think it will see the day. for the blue thats sure possible to build. i live in mtl. i never been in ny but i saw a lot of footage of mta subway and yes it seems really complex(positive way). as for montreal i adore it its my city.
Another vote for the Vancouver area's SkyTrain and Canada Line systems.
I've been on more than a few of these and the SkyTrain is severely lacking compared to the likes. I've seen crazy shit on subways, 75% of that is on the SkyTrain.
Here we go again...another fight with Canada...*Punch Canada*
wb5704 mate chill out
@Admiral General Aladeen chill mate, chill
@Beloved Oppressor, Chief Ophthalmologist Aladeen Cope, seethe, mald, and dilate.
why consider the chicago L a metro but not the vancouver skytrain? both systems use standard gauge, are mostly above ground, and typically run trains with only 4 cars.
Guadalajara and Monterrey are forgot .-.
Well, I'm from Mexico City but I think the best subway in North America is in Montreal ;)
y creo que el mejor metro es nueva york y washington
I thought Guadalajara only has a largely underground Light rail (El Tren Ligero), does it have a seperate Metro system too?
@@MR-pw6xi there is a metro in guadalajara but it is small it has only two lines and it is used by a very small number of people
Guadalajara has its own Light Rail System, it has two lines and a third line is almost complete, also a fourth line is planned, Monterrey has metro but by international standards it's considered as a light rail system
Both Guadalajara and Monterey are light rail systems. I
It is hard to pick the best one but i really like atlanta , DC , Baltimore , toronto , mexico city , new york city , san francisco and Montreal.
Comparing Toronto's and NYS's subway systems is not correct. Toronto has two major lines and that's it.
@@TroyQwert good thing he isn't comparing
Atlanta's is terrible
Atlanta's is too short, you want terrible, go to Cleveland
Never judge quality by size
Those subway trains in Atlanta sounded like R142A/R188/R143 trains in NYC.
The R188/R143/R142A and MARTA's CQ310/CQ311/CQ312 all share the same traction motor, the Adtranz 1508/1508C.
You're both either train operators or buffs.
@@Qboro66 yeah I'm definitely a train buff
@@Qboro66
Haha I'm just a buff as well
They sound like London’s jubilee line trains
Personal favorite: LA (bc I live there)
Favorite trains: San Francisco-Bay Area
Favorite stations: tie between Atlanta and DC
I will never get tired of the noise made by acceleration on the legacy BART trains
@Shitty Gayming train
Thets amazing, Cleveland built their Subway in 1955 and has only fourteen stations while mexico city built it in 1969 and has 195 stations
Mexico city has more than one line. Cleveland only has one heavy rail line and 2 light rail lines that weren't included here
Having lived in DC, Chicago, and Oakland within the last 3 years, I'd rank it 1) Chicago/CTA, 2) DC/WMATA, 3) Oakland(i.e. SF)/BART. I appreciated the fact the CTA seems like a true workhorse. It isn't flashy but it covers a good deal of the key areas of the city and neighborhoods, has reasonably frequent service and extensive hours (including 24/7 on the red & blue lines), is reasonably priced, and the CTA continues to focus on the importance of getting the system to a state of good repair for better safety and reliability in the years ahead (including a current rebuild of portions of the red/purple lines from Lawrence to Bryn Mawr and the brown line flyover north of Belmont). It's not as clean as WMATA, but seems much cleaner than BART. As for downsides, the trains are much narrower owing to the narrower tracks which they're stuck with since that is the gauge used back when the first train line was developed in the 1890s). For DC/WMATA, I love the architecture of the stations (in general I do not like brutalism but the concrete vault stations are quite attractive), the cleanliness of the system, and the air conditioning in the stations (when it's actually working), though service frequencies could be better and it seems more prone to system breakdowns (doors not working causing trains to go offline, forcing riders to offboard and crowd onto the following trains, all while the system backs up while awaiting removal of the malfunctioning train). For BART, basically the same technology as DC/WMATA, though the cleanliness of the system pales in comparison. And the fact it travels just one subway route through SF means there is a lot of the city that it misses (you can transfer to MUNI but that system isn't as extensive as it should be either). Plus service frequencies on the different east bay branches seem less than the various lines in Chicago and DC.
I only know the New York subway first hand as a native; I've ridden the T in Boston and the SEPTA many years ago. New York gets slammed a lot but the system is fast; it's three and four track local/express is unique in the world. The Philly Broad Street line is a four track L/E system; the only one out side of New York's as far as I know! Three and four track system would probably be cost prohibitive today! You can ride the entire system on one swipe of your Metrocard! There are always repairs and reconstruction going on but during the rush hours, the system does its thing well! The system is nearly entirely underground in Manhattan except for the 125 Street station on the #1 which climbs to an extraordinary height above the street then submerges again to its terminus! The outer boroughs (Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx have a combination of both elevated and underground lines! Staten Island, although part of the city system, is literally miles apart from the rest of the City and has one line running from St. George where the ferries from Manhattan come in, to Tottenville at the southern most end of the borough! Probably the most unique thing about the New York system is its 24/7 and express/local service! You cannot be stranded in the city if you have a Metrocard and a map. When I was in high school back in the 60's, I rode very line in the city including the Staten Island line which involved taking a ferry to reach it! That was one of the most unusual lines in the city, almost entire on street level and by time it reached mid-line along the route I was seeing FARMS, yes, farms within the City of New York! To be inside a subway car and look and see cows, silos, horses, etc., blew my mind! One of my bucket dreams is to ride every system in the U.S. and if time and money permitted, subways around the world. I coined the term 'URBANRAILER' in 2009 to describe those of us who love trains in general but have a special place for subways and other urban bus and rail systems! So, if you are a person who loves subways, light rail, trolleys, buses and commuter rail roads, then you are an 'urbanrailer'!!
if you could do this again, include MBTA green line as a subway, mention underground portions, take new videos (as some cities have modernised rolling stock), and include Vancouver and update Toronto to say "first rapid transit system in Canada, first in North America after WWII"
Exactly. If you are analyzing the MBTA, that includes the green line which goes underground and has significant ridership. The underground portion that was part of the first subway in America became the green line.
I've been a Subway fan since the age of 12. I've been on all five. This is my top 5. I include length, safety, and ridership......1. Mexico City 2. Montreal 3. Toronto 4. Chicago 5 NYC
If you're factoring in safety, you might as well leave out both Chicago and NYC. Too damn much crime.
if you really traveled just to see and record every metro system, I respect you
probably using footage found online
@@chickenbokernot2598 yeah, makes sense. maybe I'm just extremely retarded lol
@@chickenbokernot2598 When he borrows other people's footage, he puts their names onscreen. So when you don't see "Video by *whatever name, other than Timothy Migliore", it's Tim's own footage. So yes, he does actually travel around and film these systems.
Montréal is the best. Stylish, quiet and comfortable rubber-tyred trains, nicely decorated stations and extremely clean.
If you think that the rubber tire trains are quiet, you have not been on the Montreal subway.
@@yozie18 In comparison to other forms of subway in North America, Montreal is by far quietest. The rubber tyres alone make it a smoother and quiet ride than steel wheeled subway/train (screeching intensifies, etc.). That is not to say rubber tyre trains are quiet (almost all forms of subway/metro are loud) but compared to steel wheels, yes Rubber tyres are indeed quieter. Born and living in MTL my entire life.
But I like Trains going Clickity Clackity
@@reeda9358 rubber tires aren't really quieter. Ride the MP-89/05 in Paris it's really nosiy
@@yozie18 I believe I have ridden quite a number of rubber-tyred metros, even older than those of Montréal, so I know what I am talking about.
Washington DC is my favorite.. I love the space station, modern look of the stations and the huge murals!
34 street Hudson yards station or The Second Avenue station or World Trade Center station is probably your favorite station
Take the 7 train to 34 street Hudson yards
Take the E or N or R or W train to World Trade Center station
Take the Q to Second Ave station
New York of course. It goes everywhere and is open 24 hours a day.
Timosha21: Big error about Mexico City Metro stations only being named for "historical figures". Contrary to what you state, many stations are named after a location or neighborhood as well as some important building or attraction nearby. Some examples are: Salto de Agua (water fountain), Observatorio, Universidad, Autobuses del Norte, Chapultapec, Bellas Artes, Tasqueña, Insurgentes, Puebla, Zócalo, La Villa (Guadalupe Basilica). These are just a few of the stations that I have used and know that they are not named for a person.
All stations employ an icon based on the name of the station and is unique to that station. This system of icons was developed when the Metro first opened to help the many people who cannot read. If a rider needs to exit at Salto de Agua, for example, the icon is a big fountain sprinkling drops of water up and over. When the rider sees that fountain icon at the station, he or she knows it's time to exit. Every station displays its own icon on the platforms, the concourses, and at every entrance. The route map for that line on each car (trains are dedicated to serve one line only) shows the icon next to the name of the station. If I remember correctly, the large system maps displayed on station walls also show a station's icon next to its name. It makes using the system so much easier for all, especially for those who can't read.
As an aside, another fun fact about Mexico City Metro - the first car is designated for women and young children only. This practice is in response to blatant and continual bad behavior by men. Women would be subjected to groping and grabbing by lechers and other ill-mannered, uncouth men. Not restricted to the first car, women may ride in any car if they so desire.
You're welcome.
The first car for women and children only rule sounds a lot like India, which is also a country with a huge sexual harassment/assault problem.
Navel Lover said the guy named navel lover
1 NYC
2 Washington DC
3 Montreal
4 Chicago
5 Toronto
6 San Francisco
7 Mexico city
8 Boston
9 Vancouver
10 Miami
How dare you put Montreal before toronto
We didn’t even see vancouver metro but you like it so ok
vancouver skytrain worse than the ttc? extreme doubt lmao
Shazman 21 and also the Santo Domingo metro believe it or not
San Francisco sucks, it's just full of homeless people and drug addicts.
I've only tried four of the ones featured in this video: New York City, PATH (New Jersey), Washington and Montréal. Of those, NYC and PATH are the most convenient (since they operate around the clock - you never have to worry about missing the last train), Washington has a certain retro charm, and Montréal is probably the quietest and most state of the art.
Not to mention they kept their MR 63s so clean that they lasted 52 years
1. NYC
2. Washington DC
3. Boston
4. Montreal
5. Mexico city
u forget chicago
1. MBTA
2. MTA
3. STM
4. TTC
5. SEPTA
RM [Kim Namjoon] [BTS] which mta
Pancho R R 1# NYC 2#Washington DC 3# Chicago yes so been to all them .
Sonic 57053 I love nyc subway and Washington DC subway
Having travelled to many parts of world and riding many metros/subways I can say one thing with certainty - NOTHING beats the Moscow Metro for beauty and appeal!
Montreal's metro
@@patatebanine4278 montreal's metro doesn't even have platform edge doors. nice for north america but far behind the world standard.
@@Skyfoogle Moscow metro too dude
I will have to go with NYC MTA because of convience, but I like the MARTA in Atlanta, the Metro in DC and MBTA in Boston. NYC MTA is older than what was mentioned in the video. Some lines were apart of another transit system before it became part of the MTA. The BRT later to be named the BMT lines have been running since the 1880s. Alot of them don't exist any more but several still run to this day. The Jamaica line and the Canarsie line and the Franklin Ave Shuttle are the oldest lines running today.
Excellent video - a couple of minor things
SEPTA is Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority Southeastern is one word PATCO ( Philly-New Jersey ) should be included.
I grappled with PATCO and in the end decided not to include it. What is your favorite system then? Philadelphia? :)
Boston is home but I really like Montreal
Philly also has 14 regional rail lines, most of which include stations within the city, many built before the first subways. Two underground stations connect the old Pennsy and Reading commuter lines.
So if you excluded PATCO what is BART doing there? It is basically a commuter rail system considering its character of having only one or two stations per Settlement outside San Francisco and Oakland and the Long lines out of downtown. It just uses third rail supply and a common corridor for several lines. But that does SEPTA Regional as well in downtown Philadelphia.
We have this in Germany as well. Hamburg and Berlin both have a 3rd rail commuter network and a separate Metro (Berlin with two load gauges similar to New Yorks IRT and BMT/IND) also using 3rd rail.
The only one I know and used in America was Philadelphia. It could not cope with my German favourite Hamburg. Philly was dirty, poorly signed and noisy. Most downtown stairways into the mezzanines smelled like a toilet facility, what obviously is their main use at Friday and Saturday night.
So difficult to say what is my favourite from the ones I don't know. New York for sure is of an impressive size and Chicago's Loop is cooler than 100 tunnels below downtown. So I declare them both winner.
Mirko C BART also uses clipper card which makes it compatible with local transit (MUNI)
Washington DC has the most modern design. i use it to get to school. Great system it is.
DC and sf imo
Another one you forgot is PATCO which operates between Philadelphia and Lindenwold.
They did. And what confuses me is that they include PATH, which is actually a Class 1 railroad (track connection between PATH and the FRA railroad network exists between Harrison and Jersey City. PATCO has no track connections and is not considered a railroad by FRA definition. Staten Island Railway has the traits of both. Although part of NYC's New York City Transit, Its separate from the subway, and is considered a Class 1A railroad. It use to have a connection to the FRA rail network but that was severed in the last 20 years or so but its "1A" status allows exemption from most FRA rules.
@@ixofxiii correction
PATH operates like a Subway despite its classification. And the connection was severed years ago, but PATH retains the FRA class for better pay and better quality standards for equipment and such.
PATCO has a connection to NJT Atlantic City Line (which itself connects to the Amtrak Northeast Corridor at Shore Interlocking in Philly) at Lindenwold via an escape yard from the PATCO yard there.
For as much as the green line in Boston technically isn't heavy rail, excluding it seems a little frustrating, as it is a central underground artery for much of it's journey, and how many people use a combination of green and other lines.
I’ve only been on Montreal’s and Vancouver’s. Both seemed pretty good, but Vancouver’s was probably better because:
-It’s driverless
-It’s mostly elevated so you can see outside
-I thought it looked more modern and cleaner, especially the very comfortable Canada Line trains
But Montreal’s is also very useful.
I get the impression that Chicago and New York’s trains actually move quite slowly compared to other ones, is that true?
also you basically don't have to wait more than 3 mins for a train to show up, 6min on branches
SEPTA actually counts the Subway Surface and Norristown HSL lines as rapid transit, so there are more than two lines in Philly.
I worked on the norristowwn hs rail,good times.....good people.
None of those are HEAVY RAIL
For SEPTA in Philadelphia, you didn’t include the trolleys (Green Line) or NHSL (Purple Line). They are BOTH part of the rapid transit system.
Same reason they excluded Boston's Green Line, LA's Blue line and only mentioned Cleveland sharing three stations with but didnt include their light rail. Its all light rail. Technically, Light rail isnt "Rapid Transit"- or Heavy rail. The Norristown line is unique because its a hybrid of light and heavy but operates as a light rail. IIRC< the trolleys are part of the Surface division (buses)
Probably because he included those as light rail. A subway train has multiple cars not just one of two. The fact that single car trolleys run 50 feet apart in the tunnels should tell you that. Especially in the zone where the blue line trains run express in the center.
Philly also has the PATCO line that is underground in Center City and they heads over to NJ via the Ben Franklin bridge.
I've used BART. My experience was pretty cool..
I love how Baltimore calls it the MTA
Maryland transit administration
But NYC is better they were made first as the MTA in 1905
@@itzarex9996 NYC MTA is dirty as hell
@@andycheng9066 look at it now and you'll regret what you said
@@itzarex9996 nyc transit is more iconic
6:18 Montreal Metro is definitely the best, and it is the only one using French in North America!
Detroit's, Toronto's, and Vancouver's mini train facsimiles were a French design developed by a crown agency.
@@trainrover I mean the user interfaces, the signages and the announcements are all in French.
The People Mover here in Detroit is kind of a joke
Why it is a joke?
@@KinsonStudio Signage in montreal metro for emergency announcement is done in French and English, and so does the priority seat on the Azur train
My two favorites are the Chicago El and the Boston T.
I do like the El too. The announcements are iconic and the stations seem impossibly frail and tiny yet serve their purposes well.
Officially from the CTA is the Chicago L, not El :P
“El” short for “elevated”
@@VazDraeStudios Correct.
Is it officially L or EL
what is with the wheels on the trains in mexico? does that even qualify as a train? it's pretty much a car on fixed tracks
I think you forgot Guadalajara and Monterey
Hard to say...love NYCs, Equally love Washington DC...love the fact Montreal is totally underground.Hard choice.
Montréal Metro is the best, especially the Azur trains. Absolutely beautiful and clean.
That MARTA train sound reminds me of the R142a in NYC. 😊
Also good video.
I'm from Atlanta and I knew I wasn't tripping when I thought the same thing. Lol
Sound is the same as R142A, R143, and R188
Same propulsion
Thanks to this video, I just discovered that BART and MARTA used some of the same pictograms in their safety posters
As a Maryland (DC Metro Area) native who grew up and lives in the WMATA ecosystem, I'm obviously biased towards the DC Metro. But I would also love to try the Montreal system someday.
It’s sad this doesn’t include light rail. In fact if we include light rail, most major American cities have passenger rail, just not a subway system. Light rail works perfect for areas such as Phoenix where there isn’t density to support a full metro, but still give the citizens a decent rail system to get to and from places. Light rail systems connect more with buses than they do with trains.
I agree, plus Cities like LA, SF and Boston have extensive light rail systems that connect with their Metros so it feels like a unified system
@REd Light It's not sad light rail is not included. The feature is about heavy rail systems. You said it yourself, light rail is different. The light rail projects I have seen all have been to some extent failures. But that is in California. Infrastructure projects intended to promote development do not seem to work here. If you want, study the San Jose-Santa Clara County light rail system. The original northern portion of it, which goes to areas where there is employment in the high-tech industries has a lot of ridership. The original southern branch has going to the Santa Teresa area had little ridership when it started in 1987 and still doesn't have a lot now. The system has since expanded and I don't know where is and isn't a lot of ridership in the rest of it.
The situation may be different in other parts of the country. But light rail and heavy rail are different entities. You need a lot of ridership to support heavy rail.
Cities like San Francisco, LA, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Cleveland have Light Rail in addition to Metro. All of them except Cleveland have pretty good commuter rail systems too.
Look up best light rails in the US or North America.Light Rail is a different ball game.This was only for heavy rail systems.
@@stevenkelly9731 more like medium rail, heavy rail is commuter lines and intercity
Montreal's Metro stations are incredibly beautiful and each one has a unique style theme. It's a shame you didn't have one starting out in this video because they make a really cool melodic sound when they start moving.
Montreal ✌️
@@STEVENVUEH599 Merci mon ami! :D
@@AvroBellow pas de problème! 😁
I was hoping to see the metro systems of Guadalajara and Monterrey on the list. nice video by the way
I heard that in Toronto on the TTC all the older T1 trains will be retired in 2025 or so and Line 2 (Bloor-Danforth line) will have the newer Rocket trains like on Line 1 (Yonge University Spadina) and Line 4 (Sheppard line) even though they are doing all sorts of alterations to the older T1 trains like adding CCTV to them and LED signs that say which direction the train is going it’s like with the old streetcars (the CLRVs and the ALRVs) they added this feature where the streetcar would announce the route and the final destination stop and the even change the flooring on some of the ALRVs I don’t know why they would do all this work on these older streetcars right before retiring them? And they are doing all this work on the T1 trains when in about 5 years or so they will be retired
The Atlanta Subway sounds like the NYC train
Edit: i am in NYC so that means i have taken the Subway’s
Plus i toke the washitong DC train too and Dominican republic
The MARTA trains and the MTA R142A and the R143 share the same propulsion
It's hard making a comparison if you haven't had experience of that metro. I've ridden on the metro in New York, Toronto, Montréal, London, and Paris. I like Paris the best. It has the widest platforms, the stations are closer together so you can get closer to whatever destination, and its clean. Paris' biggest problem is that it's not good if you have mobility issues. No lifts. Next is New York, for the sheer busyness and size of it all. They're all good though.
NYC isn’t flashy but nobody can deny it serves its purpose. I think part of the reason it sometimes seems less clean is because it operates 24/7
I love TTC, born to see it, born to work for it and born to record it and publish it on RUclips.
1-New York City Subway (MTA)
2-Mexico City
3-Toronto
4-LA (Light Rail) Not the Subway
1-Cuz I’m a proud New Yorker and you can get anywhere in the city for 2.75
Also our Subway is diverse because of the 3 major companies that made our Subway look and work also the Renovations make every station look different and not as identical as in DC
2-The Efficiency of the CDMX Metro is good tho whenever any of the trains stops you kinda get pushed back
3-The Flashiness of the TTC and the easy ness of they whole system make it excellent
4 LA-Light rail gets you places, The Metro just sticks to the NorthWest and is truncated there
I live in Toronto and our subway system has four lines with two under construction! BUT....the subway system has too many delays. Like there's some problems with it and there's closures like every weekend! But I like the subway trains itself and the stations. It's convinient to get around the city.
I've also been to Montreal and over there, I rode it twice! The metro also has four lines but their system is entirely underground and rubber-tyred. The metro is clean, sleek and comfortable and their trains are pretty cool especially their new trains. The only problem is that these trains don't have AC and it gets hot in the summer. It also has some delays as well but both Toronto and Montreal have pretty cool subway systems!
I’m stuck between DC and Mexico City! Mexico City for its cleanliness and colorful ness, but I like Washington DC’s metro for the cleanliness and modern design!
Eh, the insides of the most trains are quite dirty. They have a few new ones though. I do like the underground stations there
@@DeadFox77 no DC has 7000 series trains....very clean.You must be thinking about yrs ago.
Mexico city it’s best
Montréal is clean to and each station got his own design
Both.
NYC for its varied infrastructure and equipment and convenience, as it goes basically everywhere in the city. Might not be well maintained, but it was express trains, local trains, and runs 24/7.
Vancouver would’ve been my favourite
It’s been that way since 1986 :-)
That’s not a subway system it’s a light rail system
Skytrain
@@bluebreeze4258 It's a completely separated "advanced light rail" line using third rail, LIM motors, uses 4 or 6 car metro trains and has double the capacity of light rail with no ground level crossings. Actually, when it's on the ground there's a huge fence with barbed wire so you don't electrocute yourself.
Yeah, I'd consider that a metro line.
@@bluebreeze4258 no it's not but we do have LRT coming in soon if you look you can probably find a video of the prime minister announcing funding for the new system
1. RTA (Cleveland) I like this one because it features one heavy rail line (red) and two light rail lines (blue & green). Cleveland's system is extremely under rated because many people don't normally visit Cleveland. Also, Cleveland has little funding and is operating on a shoestring. The Red Line actually has trains every 15 minutes (off peak) and every 10 minutes (at peak). They operate until 3:00 Am with red line trains every 15 minutes. The light rail lines operate every 30 minutes (off peak) and every 20 minutes (at peak).
05:25 Actually not true, every station in Mexico City’s metro is named after a place. The only thing is that in Mexico, a lot of places are named after public figures…
Do you know a lot about the subway in Mexico? Does it really carry millions of people a week? Must be crowded as hell?
Dc because its such a great ride to school, to the mall or anywhere every time.
Convenience-NYC
Experience-DC
I like the TTC. It’s my fave line. Been on about 2 or 3 lines. Line 1, Line 2, (Line 4)
I Love the ttc
Are you missing a few: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton etc......???
Vancouver: Canada line is amazing!!!
PATH is actually centered in Jersey City with 4 stations. Its only Newark stop is at Penn Station. Newark still had its former Public Service City Subway, now named Newark Light Rail with an extension to Bloomfield and a branch through the arts district to Broad Street Station.
If San Juan is part of North America for this video, so should be Santo Domingo, whose metro opened in 2008 for VIPs and 2009 for the riding public.
The Montreal segment left out the new Azur trains and the large fleet of cars with motors that play the first notes of Fanfare for the Common Man when taking power.
The last bit of the Toronto segment showed the Scarborough Rapid Transit, which predates Skytrain with the same design and connects with the east end of the Bloor Danforth subway.
Left Out PATCO (New Jersey-Pennsylvainia)
It's more Interurban, but I feel where you're coming from.
@@RRansomSmith I suppose
@@RRansomSmith It is indisputably a subway in Philly and Camden, but I see where you're coming from.
You didn't include Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. My vote goes to NYC. I've lived here for my entire life and have never owned a vehicle.
The good thing about the New York City system is that in much of the city you don't have to own a car.
One quibble: Boston may have the oldest subway, but part of the ex-BMT Jamaica elevated line dates to 1885, a dozen years before Boston's tunnel opened. If you give Chicago a start date of 1892 because of the South Side elevated, despite the fact that Chicago had no subway until 1943, then 1885 is a reasonable date for New York, as that is the oldest existing route still in use. The els in Manhattan and Brooklyn, of course, go back even farther, to the 1870s, and the original els were part of the same system when the IRT opened its first subway in 1904.
Well the title says Metro/Subway, so giving the Chicago "L" the start date of 1892 is accurate.
@@tuele4302 No argument. But the New York system has a part that dates to 1885.
Recent Problems on the MBTA puts it down compared to NYC and Washington DC
I would give the date of high voltage electrification as the as the starting date of any system. You gotta admit, all of them put Lionel to shame. What a train set New York has!
Such low passenger numbers on some of these systems. The London Underground by comparison carries up to about 5 million passengers daily. Considering how much it must have cost to build, run, and maintain these systems are they still judged to be cost effective regarding their usage?
Most of them are very small systems nothing like London so the cost isn't too high to build and maintain. Although that is a good question after all billions and billions were spent on them and the vast majority of Americans never step foot on these systems let alone use them. Although NYCT does carry 5.5 million daily.
@@rrrglynn We really need to get back to making railways, Seems like GM has brainwashed us all into this mess
Did you mention PATCO?
Hello, I am a Barcelonian railfan.
Good compilation, although you forgotten two: Mexican Monterrey, and diminutive but very interesting Washington Capitol Subway.
barcelonian Both the Mexican cities of Monterrey and Guadalajara only have a light rail system that just happens to be partially underground, Mexico City is the only Mexican City with a true subway system!
It's called a Metro in DC. Same in LA.
I live in New York City so honestly I like the Nyc MTA the best
But don't you think they need a bit more matnince
I live in Atlanta and I love MARTA. The trains are fast, clean, stations are clean, and it's always on time.
I wished they kept them clean, but I agree, it's very convenient here in Atlanta!
@Zanda Williams yes, atlanta is spread out city, and marta rail isn't very big, so most often you live outside walking distance of subway system if you're in atlanta and need a car
A had ride Mexico City metro, NYC, LAs, San Fran, Paris, London, Rome’s, Barcelona, Atlanta, Washington, New Jersey, the one I like the most is CDMX for many reasons.
If you ever visit Puerto Rico take the Urban Train (Tren Urbano) to River Stone (Rio Piedras) and walk towards the south end of the end and you will see a tunnel, it's was going to be for phase 3 for an extension east to Carolina but due to lack of funding is not being considered at this time. They operate 4 cars weekdays & 2 cars on evening and weekends. Both terminals of the Urban Train are elevated and island platform, connecting with the Sacred Heart University ( Universidad del Sagrado Corazón) & UPR main campus at University (Universidad) one of 2 underground stations in the system. It connects with 2 court house at Deportivo & Piñero and it operates 7 days a week from 5:30am to 11:30pm unless special events at the Choliseo that is next to Hato Rey station & the Saint Sebastian Fest in mid January in Old San Juan
BART baby! I ride everyday, during rush hour times it's crazy packed, on the back of trains (last car) always druggies getting high. lol
YA BART TRAIN
NYC is the best (but the worst smelling -LoL!) the enormity of the operation 24/7 , number of intertwining stations and track, massive amount of people moved...and the views from the elevated stations and bridge crossings are spectacular. NOTE: Smith/9th Sts Station is the highest elevated station in the world. If you are in the NYC subway system, you CAN get there from here.
It ain't pretty but generally it works. Mass transit is about it working not about pretty. Give me NYC over DC any day.
NYC began with the 9th Avenue El in 1868. The Subway opened in 1904.
Also the BRT who later became the BMT lines also ran in the late 1800s Prospect Park Station is over 100 years old
Boston didn't even get heavy rail elevated till 1901 New York is lucky
The only metros in North America I rode in are WMATA and MTA. Both are pretty useful, though they have some management issues.
You've forgotten Santo Domingo Metro (2 lines, 29 km, 40 stations) and Monterrey Metro (2 lines, 31,5 km, 32 stations).
Santo Domingo in Dominican Republic has a subway system
so does monterrey, mexico and panama city, which also counts as north america
Top 5 in no order :
New York
Mexico City
DC
Montreal
Chicago
The TTC is the most heavily used urban mass transit system in Canada and the third largest in North America, after the New York City Transit Authority and Mexico City Metro.[3]
Mexico City over DC? I mean ya subway is great but not better than DC Metro
@@dreamyyx_3762 i said in no particular order
@@gnarlyalso i just feel like 2 lines isnt enough
@@slavicizdashit There Are 4 Lines In TO And The Two Largest Have About 40 Stations (line 1 and 2)
As a Londoner, the design of the DC subway really is something to behold. The other systems seem so utilitarian, there is no beauty there.
Matt H but the fires we have on the rail system sucks
Toryelle Coleman Granted, it’s been abused and not maintained properly.
Matt H, It is a metro, not a subway, go to New York for a subway.
Or try London for a tube, Underground (sub surface) or Overground or a DLR (Docklands Light Rail)
The DLR and Overground are not Metros but go ahead, educate me as to the difference.
PATH fare cards are not compatible with NYC Subway. You cannot use them on the NYC Subway.
However, you can use the MTA MetroCard (pay-per-ride only) on PATH.
I hate getting stuck in traffic so I use the metro trains. I have used NYC SUbway, Washington DC Metro, Delhi, Singapore, and HK Metro. I really like the NYC Subway cause it is 24/7 and can take you anywhere. Singapore ones are nice but they are only till 12am