What do Brits call the subway?

A city's underground railway system is usually called the underground (often the Underground) in British English and the subway in North American English. Speakers of British English also use subway for systems in American cities and metro for systems in other European countries.



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The London Underground is often called the Tube because of the shape of the tunnels. The London Underground is one of the oldest metro systems in the world, opening in 1863. When the Central Line Railway opened in 1900, it was called the Twopenny Tube, referencing the price of a ticket.

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London has a famous underground railway system which we locals call the 'Tube'. This is because many of the tunnels are a round tube shape. Although people call it the 'Underground' or 'Tube', half of the stations are actually above the ground.

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Since then the Underground network, affectionately nicknamed the Tube by generations of Londoners, has grown to 272 stations and 11 lines stretching deep into the Capital's suburbs and beyond.

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The Tube London is vastly inter-connected, quite unlike anywhere else in the world, with an expansive, sprawling underground system which, though technically called The London Underground, is locally known as “the tube”.

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In America the first metro was built in New York, and it was called SUBWAY because it was built mostly under the streets (sub= under / way= road), since Manhattan street plan is quite a regular grill and it was easy to do so. But most everywhere else they usually call it simply the TRAIN.

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Some speakers of British English also use subway to refer to a British railway system like this, but the London system is usually called the underground or the tube. He crossed London by underground.

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subway, also called underground, tube, or métro, underground railway system used to transport large numbers of passengers within urban and suburban areas. Subways are usually built under city streets for ease of construction, but they may take shortcuts and sometimes must pass under rivers.

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The London Underground is widely known as the Tube with its trains and stations being Tube trains, Tube stations, etc. There are approximately 300 stations on the Tube network, each having a unique name.

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Similar to the New York Subway or the Paris Metro, the London Underground is London's series of (largely) underground trains that run a regular service throughout the city. Since the trains underground run through a series of tunnels, many people (Londoners and visitors alike!) refer to it as the tube.

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Since then the Underground network, affectionately nicknamed the Tube by generations of Londoners, has grown to 272 stations and 11 lines stretching deep into the Capital's suburbs and beyond.

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LOCAL TIP: New Yorkers typically call the subway “trains” (not underground or metro) or by their alpha name (the C or the Q).

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The subway system is usually just referred to as the trains. Locals say I can take the train to your place to generally mean that they take the subway. The subway is never referred to as the metro, underground, or tube.

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In America the first metro was built in New York, and it was called SUBWAY because it was built mostly under the streets (sub= under / way= road), since Manhattan street plan is quite a regular grill and it was easy to do so. But most everywhere else they usually call it simply the TRAIN.

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In America the first metro was built in New York, and it was called SUBWAY because it was built mostly under the streets (sub= under / way= road), since Manhattan street plan is quite a regular grill and it was easy to do so.

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London Underground is longer at 250 miles long to Paris Métro's titchy 133 miles. But the Métro has more lines (16 versus 11) and more stations (303) than London (270).

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