Transit in Washington was very similar to that in London; only it was more modern and there were no breakdowns in the tunnels.
One thing that always fascinates me about underground transit is the gentle wind that comes before the train; the wind that tells you the train is coming through the tunnel and will arrive at any moment.
Calgary’s C-train is mostly above ground so Calgarians don’t get to experience this. It’s above ground because the water-table in Calgary is too high and the rock too dense.
The Metro here (DC) is generally quite clean. Eating and drinking are prohibited — there have been cases of teenage children being handcuffed for eating/drinking on a train.
It sure looks a lot cleaner than the ones in London and New York. I saw my first rat in a New York subway station.
Cool shot. What amazed me was that the floors of the cars are carpeted! That wouldn’t last long here in NYC.
I’ve started collecting metro maps from the cities I go to. Here is a comparison of two metro system maps. Here is the Washington train system:
But how old is this subway in relation to New York and London? Does anyone know? It looks like a pristine new subway.
According to this site (http://chnm.gmu.edu/metro/):
Planning for Metro began in the 1950s, construction began in 1969, and the first segment opened for operation in 1976. Metro is one of the largest public-works projects ever built, and it is the second-busiest rail transit system in the United States.
I believe the first underground station in London (and the world) was built in the 1860s – that would be the Baker Street Station (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker_Street_tube_station).
New York’s first subway line opened in 1904.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Subway#History).
…and the London Metro map:
You can find the New York subway map here:
http://web.mta.info/maps/submap.html.
Now this looks like a complicated system!