The table compares underground railway systems in six cities in terms of their age, route length and annual passenger numbers.
Overall, London has by far the most extensive railway network, while Tokyo is the busiest system in terms of passenger volume. By contrast, Kyoto has both the shortest route and the fewest annual passengers among the six cities.
London’s underground system, which opened in 1863, is also the oldest railway network shown in the table. It has a total route length of 394 kilometres, considerably longer than those of the other cities. Despite having a much shorter network, Tokyo carries the highest number of passengers annually, at 1,927 million. Paris ranks second in passenger numbers, with 1,191 million users per year, while its railway extends across 199 kilometres.
At the other end of the scale, Kyoto and Los Angeles operate relatively small systems. Kyoto, whose railway opened in 1981, has a route length of only 11 kilometres and serves just 45 million passengers annually. Similarly, Los Angeles has a fairly limited network of 28 kilometres, although its passenger figure is slightly higher, at 50 million. Meanwhile, Washington DC occupies a middle position, with a 126-kilometre railway system and 144 million passengers per year.