A World Tour
Subway Giants
Trains with no drivers, metros on rubber tyres, and stations that look like art galleries or even museums. All aboard for more subway surprises!
Did you know?
The Copenhagen Metro has no drivers at all! A computer system runs every train, and the metro works all day and all night, every day of the week. It opened in 2002.
Some metro trains run on rubber tyres, like buses! Paris switched its first line to rubber tyres in 1956 because of its steep slopes. Montreal's metro, opened in 1966, was the first to run completely on rubber tyres.
The Stockholm metro in Sweden is called 'the world's longest art gallery'. More than 90 of its 100 stations have paintings, sculptures or other artwork. Some stations even show bare rock walls, like caves!
Try this: Map Your Own Metro
Draw a metro map of your neighbourhood. Make 'stations' for your home, school, park, market and a friend's house. Join them with coloured lines, using only straight lines and neat angled turns. Don't worry about real distances! Like Mexico City's metro, give every station its own simple picture symbol, so even someone who cannot read could find their way.
Go further: Pictures for Every Station
Mexico City's metro opened in 1969. Every station has its own simple picture symbol and colour, designed by Lance Wyman. The symbols were made so that passengers could find their way even if they could not read. While digging one station, Pino Suárez, workers found an ancient altar built by the Mexica (Aztec) people. It now stands inside the station, like a tiny museum!