The Great Era of Metro Railways Is Just Beginning

Networks have more than doubled in a decade, and few nations are speeding ahead faster than China.

- David Fickling

On a winter's morning in 1863, a revolution in urban living began. A group of dignitaries boarded a train in Paddington on the growing north-western fringes of London, and travelled by tunnel six stops to Farringdon, just north of the old heart of the city.

The Metropolitan Railway, which you can still ride today as part of the London Underground, was the first to put regular trains on dedicated tracks, cutting through the gridlock that would otherwise plague modern cities.

Over the years, networks sprouted in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Moscow, Hong Kong, Cairo and elsewhere. By 2013, they encompassed more than 130 cities, stretching 10,922km - sufficient to get you from the Equator to the North Pole.

What's most remarkable is what has happened since. Far from slowing down, we've added almost as much track in the past 10 years as was built in the previous 150, hitting 20,453km in 2023, according to new figures from UITP, the International Association of Public Transport.

Not all urban railways are considered metros. (The UITP counts only figures for lines running regular services on dedicated tracks. That means that many suburban commuter services, street-running trams and light railways, and lines with only occasional services are excluded from the figures - not to mention buses and minibus services.) The great era of metro railways is only just dawning.