Think of the answers and give a reason to support what you say

1. What problems can be solved by the underground railway system?

2. What does the metro carrying capacity depend on?

3. What do metro route intersections look like?

4. Is there any convincing alternative to a metro system for the nearest future?

5. What is the average speed of the metro trains?

6. What information facilities are metro stations equipped with?

7. What can you say about the innovations in the London metro?

Do you know any interesting facts connected with the history of metro construction and operation? Read some facts and discuss the main differences in early and modern metro systems with your partner.

The Underground project in Rome was proposed in 1881 but the construction of the Metropolitana began only in 1946, and its ten stations were put into operation in 1955. The miners found ancient ruins, antique statues and mosaics, which were well preserved. Now they decorate the concourses of the Termini – the main railway station in Rome. All these marble gods and goddesses recall ancient Roman means of transport and nowadays watch modern vehicles.

The spacious halls of the underground stations were the most reliable refuges for people during World War II. Besides, many ancient books and rare museum collections spent the wartime in the underground tunnels. The underground railways were prepared for any emergencies. In London, aircraft manufacturing facilities occupied some of the unused Tube tunnels.

The length of the Paris Underground is about 200 km and it comes third after London and New York. Budapest built its Underground in 1896 and holds the third place in the history of Metro construction. The shortest metro line was built in Turkey and its length was only 600 m. Nevertheless, Istanbul, the largest city in the country with a population of more than 12.5 million, was very proud of the metropolitan means of transport. It was a solution to traffic gridlock in this mega city.

First opened in 1863, The London Underground (the Tube) is the oldest and largest metro system in Europe. Charles Pearson proposed the idea in 1843. According to his project, almost all lines were to be laid close to the ground surface. Currently there are 275 stations in it and its total length is 415 km. The Tube is twice as long as the Moscow Metro lines but the traffic flow is nearly three times lower. The diameter of the tunnels, at the old lines, is rather small as in the case of Russell Square Station. Besides, there are lifts instead of escalators. Some metro lines are partly elevated and partly underground. Sometimes the passages at old stations are so narrow that two persons with luggage can hardly pass by without touching each other. However, modern stations at Circle Line look more spacious and passengers go up and down using the escalators. The Jubilee Line is one of the most recently built, and its stations are radically different from the early Tube structures. Modern designs of spacious halls decorated with metal ornamental strips resemble a city from a science fiction novel.

New York City was the next place, after London, to build a subway. The first track was laid in 1848 and nowadays its length is the largest in the world. The USA subway heads the list of the underground railway systems because eleven cities, in the US, have integrated the subway into public transport and its overall length is 1060 km.

The foundation of the first metro station in Moscow dates back to June 1931. It came into operation on May 15, 1935. The world press wrote about that engineering feat and described the subsurface structures as par excellence everywhere. The Metro was built according to the Moscow Master Development Plan but since then, the work has not stopped for a single day. The stations and halls are spacious and well lit coupled with essential ventilation systems. They are equipped with fans, dust collectors and mufflers. The stations are decorated with marble, bronze, aluminum and glass. The cleanness in the Moscow Metro has been part of its image. “No smoking” became a hard and fast rule from the very first day of its foundation. All deep stations have escalators. The speed of the trains is 70-90 km/h.

New metro lines are being built all over the Russian Federation and six Russian cities have already afforded this means of transport.