Which European cities have the best public transportation? (Multiple choice) (German, beautiful)
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How can you make a qualitative assessment without taking into account geographical coverage?
Doesn't seem that hard to me, on the one hand you have how extensive the system is, on the other you have how well it works. The London system has great coverage but it works like crap (compared to most others I have used).
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Originally Posted by Jaggy001
It is also very expensive when compared to New York or even Paris. Subway fares in New York are subsidized by tolls from bridges and tunnels which is one of the reasons it is cheap.
I like that. The NY subway may not be the cleanest in the world, but it has so much character and history, and it's coverage is second to none (except perhaps Tokyo).
The London Underground is most often compared to the New York City subway. The Underground has 270 stations and 250 miles in route length. While the NYC subway has 468 stations, 202 miles in route length. One of the big differences is that the NYC system has multiple tracks for express trains.
One of the nice things about the London Underground is how easy it is to get from Heathrow Airport to the heart of London. A single line takes you to Piccadilly Circus. I think it makes London one of the easiest cities to visit in the world.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Originally Posted by BigCityDreamer
The London Underground is most often compared to the New York City subway. The Underground has 270 stations and 250 miles in route length. While the NYC subway has 468 stations, 202 miles in route length. One of the big differences is that the NYC system has multiple tracks for express trains.
One of the nice things about the London Underground is how easy it is to get from Heathrow Airport to the heart of London. A single line takes you to Piccadilly Circus. I think it makes London one of the easiest cities to visit in the world.
New York's subway feels a bit old and it can be confusing at first. Getting from Newark Airport to Manhattan isn't as easy as it should be. But once you get it, it's a breeze. The subways can be stiflingly hot in summer though. Also saw a lot of rubbish, a few rats and assorted griminess. New York is still a very grimy city.
The London Underground is most often compared to the New York City subway. The Underground has 270 stations and 250 miles in route length. While the NYC subway has 468 stations, 202 miles in route length. One of the big differences is that the NYC has multiple tracks for express trains.
One of the nice things about the London Underground is how easy it is to get from Heathrow Airport to the heart of London. A single line takes you to Piccadilly Circus. I think it makes London one of the easiest cities to visit in the world.
The London underground has very poor coverage south of the River Thames. While you can get the underground to Heathrow (Piccadilly Line), the trains are not well designed for people with baggage and it is pretty slow into town. However, it is a lot cheaper than the Heathrow Express and very convenient if you decide to stay in the Hammersmith/Kensington area.
The NY subway really does not offer good service to either La Guardia or JFK. You can access JFK (LIRR) and Newark (NJT & Amtrak) by train but each requires switching to - and paying for - the monorail system to actually access the terminals.
New York's subway feels a bit old and it can be confusing at first. Getting from Newark Airport to Manhattan isn't as easy as it should be. But once you get it, it's a breeze. The subways can be stiflingly hot in summer though. Also saw a lot of rubbish, a few rats and assorted griminess. New York is still a very grimy city.
Now the London Underground can still be grimy and some stations haven't been done up in decades by the looks of them while some look ultra-modern, but the most I've seen is the odd mouse or two late at night, never rats. Unfortunately there are few if any litter bins on London transport - they were taken away after the IRA used them a couple of times for bomb placement, so rubbish can be a problem later in the day.
Unfortunately there are few if any litter bins on London transport - they were taken away after the IRA used them a couple of times for bomb placement, so rubbish can be a problem later in the day.
I understand why they do it but it's one of those things that drive me crazy.
Both Barcelona and Paris have two flaws in that their transportation systems cover the centre of the cities quite well but their main business districts are not all that well covered because they are not in the centre. From memory, La Defense in Paris only has one metro line going to it. I worked a few days there and I can remember having to wait for multiple trains before finding one with any space in it. Same with Barcelona. Their business district is along the Diagonal and not all that well served by public transport.
The Opera area is a major shopping district as well as being a banking centre. However, with 160,000 white collars workers and a great many French and foreign corporations based there, I would suggest that La Defense is probably the more important business district.
No around Opera is still more important, it does have more jobs, more compagnies based here, especially the foreign one.
Anyway La Defense is maybe only served by metro line 1, but it also have the RER A, serveral frequent suburban trains, light rail line. It is not like the subway was the only mode of transportation.
The main way to arrive in la Defense is by far the RER A.
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