The table compares six major cities in terms of the year their underground railway systems opened, the length of their routes, and the number of passengers served annually in millions.
It is clear that the oldest systems, located in London and Paris, tend to have longer routes, while newer systems such as those in Kyoto and Los Angeles cover shorter distances. However, there is no consistent link between age and passenger numbers.
London’s underground railway, which began operating in 1863, is the oldest and has the longest route at 394 km, serving 775 million passengers each year. Paris, opened in 1900, has a much shorter network of 199 km but records the highest passenger volume at 1,191 million annually. Tokyo, starting in 1927, has a moderately long route of 155 km but serves 1,927 million passengers, the largest figure in the table.
By contrast, the Kyoto system, which opened in 1981, has the smallest route length of just 11 km and the lowest passenger figure at 45 million. Los Angeles, opened in 2001, also has a short network (28 km) and relatively low usage (50 million passengers). Washington, which began in 1976, has 126 km of track and accommodates 144 million passengers annually.
Overall, while older systems tend to be longer, passenger numbers vary greatly, with Tokyo carrying by far the most passengers despite having a shorter network than London.