European Capitols - Metro; Underground; U-Bahn..

For those here Stateside who have won the Lotto and are contemplating an overseas journey, here is a "round up" of various mass transit systems that appeared in Sunday's New York Times:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/tr ... heads.html

Gilbert B Norman wrote:For those here Stateside who have won the Lotto and are contemplating an overseas journey, here is a "round up" of various mass transit systems that appeared in Sunday's New York Times:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/tr ... heads.html

There is a web site of all the world's metros, with many maps. I don't have a marker to it on this computer. It is sponsored by RATP the Paris operator.
A quick googling produces this list
http://people.reed.edu/~reyn/transport.html

Every year there are more metros. Dubai will have an interesting one. I have seen most of the metros in Europe but by no means all.

Thanks for the link , Gilbert .
looks like i missed out on some great rides on the paris metro , I can't recall any other than short trips i made .
London , on the other hand i pretty well covered most of it , but then i was living there , and had a multizone pass to get to work anyway . For a longer stay , a weekly multizone pass would be probably cheaper .

David Benton wrote:Thanks for the link , Gilbert .
looks like i missed out on some great rides on the paris metro , I can't recall any other than short trips i made .
London , on the other hand i pretty well covered most of it , but then i was living there , and had a multizone pass to get to work anyway . For a longer stay , a weekly multizone pass would be probably cheaper .

Paris has some new lines, including one with a train that looks like a snake - no walls between carriages. There are also at least two new tram lines in the periphery - one along the tracks of the old Peripherique rail line.

The last time I was in Paris I had a three day pass for all the buses and metro.

Hard as it may to believe, the Paris Metro did once offer First Class seating. I think, though, such was a casualty with the formation of the RATP.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... A967958260

I rode it once on a 1979 visit - properly ticketed!, I failed to discern any difference between that and standard. As near as I could tell you paid for the privilege to board through a door that had a Yellow stripe atop such.

Who knows to what extent access to such was controlled.

Gilbert B Norman wrote:Hard as it may to believe, the Paris Metro did once offer First Class seating. I think, though, such was a casualty with the formation of the RATP.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... A967958260

I rode it once on a 1979 visit - properly ticketed!, I failed to discern any difference between that and standard. As near as I could tell you paid for the privilege to board through a door that had a Yellow stripe atop such.

Who knows to what extent access to such was controlled.

I can remember the era of first class. I first saw the Metro in the 1950s. The London Metropolitan Line had first class at one time. I don't think it survived the 1930s. Among its customers were City men (still are, no doubt) from the northern suburbs and perhaps they wanted a little exclusiveness but the carriages then were very plush. I remember them from the 1950s before they were swept away by progress.

i recall 1st class on the paris metro when I was there . that would be late eighties / early nineties . Unless i am remembering seen the first class cars in a book or magazine , but im pretty sure i remember been surprised seeing first class .
but it does beg the question , how many peole would pay extra to ride in a less crowded subway car ??? . Given that you have many well paid people commuting into financil districts etc , it would probably be popular . Wether there is capacity to provide such service is another question .

David Benton wrote:i recall 1st class on the paris metro when I was there . that would be late eighties / early nineties . Unless i am remembering seen the first class cars in a book or magazine , but im pretty sure i remember been surprised seeing first class .
but it does beg the question , how many peole would pay extra to ride in a less crowded subway car ??? . Given that you have many well paid people commuting into financil districts etc , it would probably be popular . Wether there is capacity to provide such service is another question .

I believe 1st class on the Metro lasted into the Mitterrand era, when it was adjudged incompatible with Socialist principles and abolished. As to the question of how many people would pay extra to ride first class, apparently the answer was not nearly as many as would ride first class without paying extra--roving inspectors were needed in an early example of a proof-of-payment system. Regarding the question of capacity, the policy was first relaxed to admit all passengers to first class in peak periods (as I recall) before doing away with it altogether.

ExCon90