Rapid transit

:This article is about high-capacity urban rail public transit systems. For lower-order systems, see tram, light rail, bus, and bus rapid transit.

History

The 2750-foot (850-m) Cobble Hill Tunnel in Brooklyn, New York (now part of New York City) is claimed to be the "world's oldest subway tunnel". This was formed in 1850 when an open cut on the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad in the middle of Atlantic Avenue was bricked over to form a tunnel. The company was later taken over by the Long Island Rail Road, but the tunnel was closed in 1861. This tunnel was not a true subway, as it had no stations and was used for long-distance regional rail and streetcars.

Related Topics:
Cobble Hill Tunnel - Brooklyn, New York - New York City - 1850 - Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad - Atlantic Avenue - Long Island Rail Road - 1861 - Regional rail - Streetcar - Yorkville Tunnel - New York and Harlem Railroad - October 26 - 1837

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Soon after, the similar Murray Hill Tunnel on the New York and Harlem Railroad was roofed over in the 1850s. This ran under Park Avenue in New York City, and later even included an underground station at 38th Street, opened in 1870. http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/38st.html As with the Cobble Hill Tunnel, this carried regional rail and streetcars. The tunnel has since been converted for automobile traffic.

Related Topics:
Murray Hill Tunnel - New York and Harlem Railroad - 1850s - Park Avenue - New York City - 38th Street - 1870 - Automobile

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The first real underground line in the sense discussed here was the Metropolitan Railway in London, which opened in 1863, using the era's most advanced propulsive technology: steam locomotives, specially designed to condense their exhaust steam when in the tunnels. It was an immediate success and many extensions followed; the Metropolitan eventually became an important part of the London Underground system. Steam working underground lasted until 1905.

Related Topics:
Metropolitan Railway - London - 1863 - Steam locomotive - London Underground - 1905

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The first elevated railway in the world was the Ninth Avenue Elevated in New York City, opened in 1868 as a cable car and later converted for steam and then electric operation. Elevated railways were seen as a cheaper alternative to subways, but were often seen as dirty, ugly, and dangerous.

Related Topics:
Ninth Avenue Elevated - New York City - 1868 - Cable car

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In 1870 short single-track lines opened in both New York and London using alternative technologies, neither of which was a success. In New York, Alfred Beach built a 95 m tunnel (with a single station and a dead end at the other end) to demonstrate pneumatic train operation; this operated until 1873, after which the tunnel became a rifle range and was then abandoned. The Beach subway was demolished in 1912 to build the BMT City Hall station. In London, the Tower Subway provided a crossing under the River Thames using a tiny cable car for the 410-m journey; the line closed in a matter of months and the tunnel was given over to pedestrians, later becoming a utility conduit.

Related Topics:
1870 - New York - London - Alfred Beach - Pneumatic - 1873 - Rifle range - 1912 - BMT City Hall - Tower Subway - River Thames - Cable car

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The first deep-level underground line (other than the Tower Subway) was the City and South London Railway, which opened in 1890. Steam operation being considered ridiculous in view of the limited ventilation so far underground, cable traction was chosen; but during construction the management decided to try electric locomotives instead, and so the C&SLR became the first underground electric railway. It too is now part of the London Underground.

Related Topics:
City and South London Railway - 1890 - London Underground

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The first line of the Chicago 'L' opened in 1892; most of Chicago's system is still elevated, but a few subways have been built, the first opening in 1943.

Related Topics:
Chicago 'L' - 1892 - Chicago - 1943

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The first underground railway in continental Europe was completed in Budapest in 1896, after only two years of construction, from Vörösmarty tér (the city centre) to City Park and the local zoo. This line, now part of the Budapest Metro, stretched 3.7 km (2.3 mi). It remains largely in its original state, with the original cars modernised and the stations restored in keeping with their original design, and with the route the same except for a very short extension north to Mexikói Út to connect with the city's tram network. It lays claim to a second title, that is the first electric underground railway (collecting, as it does today, from overhead cables, like the Newcastle System, rather than the more common third rail) in the world..The 10.4 km (6.5 mi) Glasgow Subway in Scotland opened the same year and used cable haulage, until it was electrified in 1935.

Related Topics:
Budapest - 1896 - Vörösmarty tér - City Park - Budapest Metro - Glasgow Subway - Scotland - Cable haulage - 1935

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The first line of the Paris Metro opened in 1900. Its full name was the Chemin de Fer Métropolitain, a direct translation into French of London's Metropolitan Railway. The name was shortened to métro, and many other languages have since borrowed this word.

Related Topics:
Paris Metro - 1900 - French

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Boston has the oldest subway tunnel in the United States, part of the Green Line downtown, dating from 1897. The original construction was a short four-track tunnel downtown, with only two stations, built to take light rail cars from outlying areas off the streets. Later subways in Boston carried full-size trains; the Green Line still operates with light rail equipment. In 1901, heavy rail trains began to use the tunnel as part of the original configuration of the Main Line Elevated, the first elevated railway in Boston.

Related Topics:
Boston - Green Line - 1897 - Light rail - 1901 - Main Line Elevated

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The New York City Subway, which has become the world's largest (by some measures), did not open its first section until 1904, but this was a fully separate four-track line, stretching 9 miles (14.5 km)http://nycsubway.org/perl/caption.pl?/maps/historical/railways1906-54.gif from City Hall to 145th Street. Extensions were soon built, reaching the Bronx and Brooklyn; this is now part of the {{IRT}} system. Subway trains now run on right-of-way first used in 1863, and converted R44 cars run on the 1860 Staten Island Railway.

Related Topics:
New York City Subway - 1904 - City Hall - 145th Street - The Bronx - Brooklyn - 1863 - R44 - 1860 - Staten Island Railway

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In 1907, the first line in Philadelphia, now part of the Market-Frankford Line, began running on both elevated and underground structures.

Related Topics:
1907 - Philadelphia - Market-Frankford Line

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The oldest subway in the Southern Hemisphere opened in 1913 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which is also the oldest one in Latin America and the whole Spanish-speaking world. http://www.urbanrail.net/am/buen/buenos-aires.htm The system is now known as el subte.

Related Topics:
Southern Hemisphere - 1913 - Buenos Aires - Argentina - Latin America - Spanish-speaking world - El subte

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On 1923 the Mancomunitat de Catalunya opened the Barcelona Metro.

Related Topics:
1923 - Mancomunitat de Catalunya - Barcelona Metro

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Asia's oldest subway line is Tokyo's Ginza Line, opened in 1927. Now there are 12 subway lines running on about 150 miles of track. Other major Japanese cities also have subway systems, including Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kobe, Kyoto, Fukuoka, and Sendai.

Related Topics:
Tokyo - Ginza Line - 1927 - Yokohama - Osaka - Nagoya - Sapporo - Kobe - Kyoto - Fukuoka - Sendai

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The first underground in the former USSR (in Russian metropolitain or metro) opened in 1935 in Moscow. The first line – between Sokolniki and Park Kul'tury – was 11.2 km long. The Moscow metro was built during the reign of Stalin, and is one of the most elaborately decorated undergrounds of the world, with its stations often being called underground palaces. (As of 2005, the Moscow metro has 278 kilometers of railways and 171 stations.) In Russia and other republics of the former Soviet Union as a whole, subways opened in Saint Petersburg (1955), Kiev (1960), Tbilisi (1965), Baku (1967), Kharkov (1975), Tashkent (1977), Yerevan (1981), Minsk (1984), Nizhniy Novgorod (1985), Novosibirsk (1986), Samara (1987), Yekaterinburg (1991), Dnepropetrovsk (1995), Kazan (2005). In Volgograd and Krivoj Rog in 1980s a "metrotram" opened – it runs underground, along with common city trams.

Related Topics:
USSR - 1935 - Moscow - Park Kul'tury - Moscow metro - Stalin - 2005 - Saint Petersburg - 1955 - Kiev - 1960 - Tbilisi - 1965 - Baku - 1967 - Kharkov - 1975 - Tashkent - 1977 - Yerevan - 1981 - Minsk - 1984 - Nizhniy Novgorod - 1985 - Novosibirsk - 1986 - Samara - 1987 - Yekaterinburg - 1991 - Dnepropetrovsk - 1995 - Kazan - Volgograd - Krivoj Rog

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The Toronto Subway (1954) used the first aluminum subway car (which was at the time also the longest car in the world), which reduced weight and therefore operating costs.

Related Topics:
Toronto Subway - 1954

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In Brazil, the first underground opened in 1974 in São Paulo, and now carries some four million passengers on an average weekday as part of the São Paulo Metro. Part of it consists of converted older railways; some of its stations actually date from the 1880s. Underground lines have been built also in Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Recife, Porto Alegre and Brasília.

Related Topics:
Brazil - 1974 - São Paulo - São Paulo Metro - 1880s - Rio de Janeiro - Belo Horizonte - Recife - Porto Alegre - Brasília

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The same year, 1974, a metro was opened in Prague.

Related Topics:
1974 - Prague

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The Washington Metro in Washington, DC opened in 1976, as part of changing attitudes towards transportation in the United States, leading to subway systems in many cities that had done without.

Related Topics:
Washington Metro - Washington, DC - 1976 - United States

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In 1979, Hong Kong's subway line, the MTR, began operations. It currently has seven lines, including four that run underneath Victoria Harbour. By 1982, the British Section of the Kowloon-Canton Railway, now known as KCR East Rail, started to provide metro-like service upon electrification was completed.

Related Topics:
1979 - Hong Kong - MTR - Victoria Harbour - 1982 - KCR East Rail

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Recent developments include new, elevated lines such as AirTrain JFK in New York City and surface lines such as the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail across the Hudson River in New Jersey. These are often seen as futuristic, or at least modern, and are compared favorably to old-style elevated railways.

Related Topics:
AirTrain JFK - New York City - Hudson-Bergen Light Rail - Hudson River - New Jersey - Futuristic

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