page_title: History of rapid transit
section_title: Europe
hierarchical_section_title: History of rapid transit / Early systems / Europe
context_page_description: The history of rapid transit began in London with the opening of the Metropolitan Railway, which is now part of the London Underground, in 1863. By World War I, electric underground railways were being used in Athens, Berlin, Boston, Buenos Aires, Budapest, Glasgow, Hamburg, Liverpool, New York City, Paris, and Philadelphia.
  In the 21st century, China became the world's leader by number of rapid transit systems as well as the fastest growth of such systems, and many other Asian countries began construction of their own rapid transit systems.
context_section_description: Budapest opened the first electrified underground line on the continent, the M1, in 1896. It ran from Gizella tér (now Vörösmarty tér, the city centre) to City Park and the local zoo, a distance of 3.7 kilometres (2.3 mi). It is now part of the Budapest Metro and has largely been restored. The M1 line became an IEEE Milestone due to the radically new innovations in its era: "Among the railway’s innovative elements were bidirectional tram cars; electric lighting in the subway stations and tram cars; and an overhead wire structure instead of a third-rail system for power." Car #18 is preserved at the Seashore Trolley Museum.
  The 10.4 kilometres (6.5 mi) Glasgow Subway in Scotland opened the same year and used cable haulage until it was electrified in 1935.
  In 1898 the technically outdated two-line Vienna Metropolitan Railway in Vienna was opened, which was operated by steam trains. The system was converted to a modern underground railway in 1978.
  The first line of the Paris Métro opened in 1900. Its full name was the Chemin de Fer Métropolitain, a direct translation into French of London's Metropolitan Railway. The name was shortened to métro, and many other languages have since borrowed this word.
  The Berlin U-Bahn ([uː.baːn]; short for Untergrundbahn, underground railway) opened in 1902; because large sections of the line were elevated, it was also called "Hochbahn" (high railway) until the 1920s. Germany's second system, the Hamburg U-Bahn opened in 1904.
  The Athens-Piraeus Electric Railway was built as a steam-hauled suburban line in 1869 and acquired an underground section in the capital in 1874. It was electrified in 1904 and became part of the Athens Metro in 2011.
  Istanbul's 1875 Tünel is sometimes described as an early subway system but is actually an underground funicular.
caption: Paris Métro under construction around 1900.
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