BUSINESS / TRANSPORT and LOGISTICS

List: Top Ten Longest Underground Passenger Transport Systems in the World

Date: as of January 2009

Source: Top Ten 10 dot com

Base: Compiled from various sources. Only subway system mileages counted, not extended to overground train lines unless where integral to underground transit journey.

Notes: The London Underground (commonly known as 'The Tube') is the world's longest metro / subway transit system and is the world's oldest underground system (being inaugurated in 1863). It covers 253 miles of track and transports approx 1,000 million people yearly. The Paris Métro is the second oldest in the world (b. 1900) and runs to over 133.7 miles of track, stopping at 380 stations. The busiest subway system is Tokyo's, carrying 2.8 billion passengers per year. The Beijing Metro will become the longest system if existing plans calling for 19 lines and 561 km of tracks to be built by 2020 come to fruition.