What is the oldest subway line?

The Oldest Subways in the World
  • London Underground History (1863) – the oldest tube line. ...
  • The Istanbul Tunnel (1875) ...
  • Chicago 'L' (1892) ...
  • Glasgow Circular Underground (1896) ...
  • Budapest's historic metro line (1896) ...
  • The Paris Metropolitain (1900) ...
  • The Berlin U-Bahn (1902) ...
  • New York, the subway that never closes (1904)




The London Underground is the world’s oldest subway system, having first opened on January 10, 1863. The original line, known as the Metropolitan Railway, ran between Paddington (then called Bishop’s Road) and Farringdon Street using steam locomotives in gas-lit tunnels. While many think of the "Tube" as a single system, it was actually a collection of separate companies. In 1890, the City and South London Railway became the world’s first deep-level electric "metro" line. In 2026, the London Underground remains a marvel of engineering, successfully integrating these 19th-century tunnels with 21st-century technology like the Elizabeth Line and the latest driverless innovations. While other cities like Budapest (1896) and Paris (1900) followed shortly after, London remains the undisputed pioneer of subterranean urban transit, a legacy that continues to define the city’s geography more than 160 years later.

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Inaugurated on 17 January, 1875, the Tünel is the second-oldest fully underground urban railway in the world, after the London Underground (1863) and oldest in continental Europe, pre-dating the Budapest Metro by 21 years. This diagram: view.

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The London Underground first opened as an underground railway in 1863 and its first electrified underground line opened in 1890, making it the world's oldest metro system.

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London Underground History (1863) – the oldest tube line The underground or tube in London is the oldest transport system of its kind in the world.

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Is Paris Metro older than London? London is the great grandaddy of underground rail systems, opening the first line in the world in 1863. Paris, the young scamp, came along in 1900 – it was actually only the second subway in the world at this point.

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Glasgow Subway in Scotland is the world's third oldest metro system, opening in December 1896. The system runs along an underground 10.5km loop in the city and is one of the only metros in the world not to have been expanded beyond its original route.

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Opened in 1863, The Metropolitan Railway between Paddington and Farringdon was the first, urban, underground railway in the world. An extension from Baker Street to Swiss Cottage in 1868, however, put an end to this claim to fame.

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Maneuver Manhattan's train system like a local Here, Archer Hotel New York's consummate host offers timely tips on navigating the New York City subway (aka train) system like a boss. 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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O has never been used due to its visual similarity to the number 0. P was planned for the service operating on the final leg of the BMT Culver Line before it was downgraded to a shuttle.

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The Shanghai Metro is the world's longest metro network at 803 kilometres (499 mi) and has the highest annual ridership at 2.83 billion trips. The New York City Subway has the greatest number of stations with 472. As of 2023, the country with the most metro systems is China, with 45 in operation.

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The New York Subway has more stations than the London Underground. Both systems have almost the same route miles. The New York Subway has more track miles because many routes have four tracks rather than the London Underground's two tracks.

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THE world's first metro, now the world's oldest system, is the London Underground in England, which is more commonly known as the Tube, which was opened in 1863.

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The deepest station is Hampstead on the Northern line, which runs down to 58.5 metres. 15. In Central London the deepest station below street level is also the Northern line. It is the DLR concourse at Bank, which is 41.4 metres below.

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Despite being named under the same system as London Underground lines, and having sections which are underground, the Elizabeth line is not classified as a London Underground line. Under the project name of Crossrail, the system was approved in 2007, and construction began in 2009.

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  • The world's busiest passenger station, with a passenger throughput of 3.5 million passengers per day (1.27 billion per year), is Shinjuku Station in Tokyo.
  • The world's station with most platforms is Grand Central Terminal in New York City with 44 platforms.


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The Seoul Subway in South Korea topped the list. The overall ranking takes into account every element of our study - so that includes the number of stations with step-free access, the price of a ticket and the age of the system (amongst many others).

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Moscow's first metro line was opened in May 1935, with 13 stations between Sokolniki and Park Kultury. This line was named the 'Kirovsko-Frunzensky Diameter' and given a red colour. Two more lines were added shortly after – the 'Gorky-Zamoskvoretskaya Liniya' (green line) and 'Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Liniya' (blue line).

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The Metro signage is usually a letter M, or the words Métro or Métropolitain. The lines are numbered 1 to 14, and there are two additional lines called 3bis and 7bis. To get around the centre of Paris the Metro connects perfectly with the RER trains.

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