List of metro systems

This **list of metro systems** includes electrified rapid transit train systems worldwide. In some parts of the world, metro systems are referred to as **subways**, **U-Bahn** or **undergrounds**. as of January 2021, 204 cities in 61 countries have a Metro System.

The London Underground first opened as an underground railway in 1863 and its first electrified underground line opened in 1890, making it the world's oldest metro system. The New York City Subway has the greatest number of stations with 472. The country with the most metro systems is China, with 43 in operation. The Shanghai Metro is the world's longest metro network at 803 km (499 mi) and also has the highest annual ridership at 2.83 billion trips.

## Considerations

The International Association of Public Transport (L'Union Internationale des Transports Publics, or UITP) defines metro systems as urban passenger transport systems, "operated on their own right of way and segregated from general road and pedestrian traffic". The terms heavy rail (mainly in North America) and heavy urban rail are essentially synonymous with the term "metro". Heavy rail systems are also specifically defined as an "electric railway".

The dividing line between metro and other modes of public transport, such as light rail and commuter rail, is not always clear, and while UITP only makes distinctions between "metros" and "light rail", the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) distinguish all three modes. A common way to distinguish metro from light rail is by their separation from other traffic. While light rail systems may share roads or have level crossings, a metro system runs, almost always, on a grade-separated exclusive right-of-way, with no access for pedestrians and other traffic. And in contrast to commuter rail or light rail, metro systems are primarily used for transport within a city, and have higher service frequencies and substantially higher passenger volume capacities. Furthermore, most metro systems do not share tracks with freight trains or inter-city rail services. It is however not relevant whether the system runs on steel wheels or rubber tyres, or if the power supply is from a third rail or overhead line.

The name of the system is not a criterion for inclusion or exclusion. Some cities use metro as a brand name for a transit line with no component of rapid transit whatsoever. Similarly, there are systems branded light rail that meet every criterion for being a rapid transit system. Some systems also incorporate light metro or light rail lines as part of the larger system under a common name. These are listed, but the light rail lines are not counted in the provided network data. Certain transit networks may match the service standards of metro systems, but reach far out of the city and are sometimes known as S-Bahn, suburban, regional or commuter rail. These are not included in this list. Neither are funicular systems, or people movers, such as amusement park, ski resort and airport transport systems.

This list counts metros separately when multiple metros in one city or metropolitan area have separate owners or operating companies. This list expressly does not aim at representing the size and scope of the total rapid transit network of a certain city or metropolitan area. The data of this list should not be used to infer the size of a city's, region's, or country's urban rail transit systems, or to establish a ranking.

## Legend[edit]

The locations of all the world's metro systems
Countries shown in green have at least one operational metro system, while countries shown in yellow have at least one metro system under construction.

City
Primary city served by the metro system.
Country
Sovereign state in which the metro system is located.
Name
The most common English name of the metro system (including a link to the article for that system).
Year opened
The year the metro system was opened for commercial service at metro standards. In other words, parts of the system may be older, but as parts of a former light rail or commuter rail network, so the year that the system obtained metro standards (most notably electrification) is the one listed.
Year of last expansion
The last time the system length or number of stations in the metro system was expanded.
Stations
The number of stations in the metro network, with stations connected by transfer counted as one.
System length
The system length of a metro network is the sum of the lengths of all routes in the rail network in kilometers or miles. Each route is counted only once, regardless of how many lines pass over it, and regardless of whether it is single-track or multi-track, single carriageway or dual carriageway.
Ridership
The number of unique journeys on the metro system every year. There is a major discrepancy between the ridership figures: some metro systems count transferring between lines as multiple journeys, but others do not.
## List[edit]

This list is sortable. Click on the  icon in the column header to change sort key and sort order.

Note: This list may not be fully representative, as yearly ridership numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic are shown for some systems, while others have numbers from previous years.

Table notes
**^\*** Indicates ridership figures based on the fiscal year rather than the calendar year.

## List by country

Countries shown in blue have one operational metro system, while countries shown in red have more than one. Countries shown in salmon have at least one metro system under construction, while countries shown in brown have at least one planned.

*As of 2 April 2022*