Top 100 Longest Subway Systems in the World

[beijingwalker]

Top 100 Longest Subway Systems in the World

 

[beijingwalker]

With the rapid expansion of subway systems across all Chinese cities, in a couple of years all top 10 longest subway systems will be in Chinese cities.

 

[beijingwalker]

Which subway is really the largest in the world? Many reports say Shanghai, and some say Beijing, the two cities are neck and neck, no one seems to really know which one is actaully larger..

Beijing Metro tops 699km making it world’s largest network
Dec 30, 2019
David Briginshaw
THE start of trial operation on two extensions to the Beijing Metro on December 28 has extended the network to 699.3km with 405 stations, making it the world’s largest metro network and pushing Shanghai metro into second place.

The two new metro sections comprise a 16.6km eastern extension of Line 7 and a 4.5km southern extension of the Batong Line to Huashuang and a common terminal at Universal Studios. The Universal Studios theme park is still under construction and is due to open in 2021.

This was followed on December 30 with the opening of Qinghe station on Line 13. This is an interchange with the new Beijing – Zhangjiakou high-speed line which opened on the same day.

https://www.railjournal.com/passeng...-tops-699km-making-it-worlds-largest-network/

 

[Mista]

With the rapid expansion of subway systems across all Chinese cities, in a couple of years all top 10 longest subway systems will be in Chinese cities.

Which subway is really the largest in the world? Many reports say Shanghai, and some say Beijing, the two cities are neck and neck, no one seems to really know which one is actaully larger..

Different countries have different definitions of city boundary and metro system. Like, no way Singapore (19) has a longer rail system than Tokyo (20) lol.

The video took just 1 operator for Tokyo and it operates only within the 23 wards of Tokyo, the urban core of Tokyo which area is smaller than even Singapore. The figure is far larger if we take into account other operators in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

Public transport within Greater Tokyo is dominated by the world's most extensive urban rail network (as of May 2014, the article Tokyo rail list lists 158 lines, 48 operators, 4,714.5 km of operational track and 2,210 stations [although stations recounted for each operator]) of suburban trains and subways run by a variety of operators, with buses, trams, monorails, and other modes supporting the railway lines. The above figures do not include any Shinkansen services. However, because each operator manages only its own network, the system is managed as a collection of rail networks rather than a single unit. 40 million passengers (counted twice if transferring between operators) use the rail system daily (14.6 billion annually) with the subway representing 22% of that figure with 8.66 million using it daily.

World Economic Forum:

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/11/these-are-the-world-s-10-busiest-metros/

 

[beijingwalker]

Different countries have different definitions of city boundary and metro system. Like, no way Singapore (19) has a longer rail system than Tokyo (20) lol.

The video took just 1 operator for Tokyo and it operates only within the 23 wards of Tokyo, the urban core of Tokyo which area is smaller than even Singapore. The figure is far larger if we take into account other operators in the Tokyo metropolitan area.



World Economic Forum:

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/11/these-are-the-world-s-10-busiest-metros/

Beijing and Shanghai's subways are real subways, if counted the city railways in with the great Beijing and Shanghai regions, it'll be another story.

Some Chinese city subways, one screeshot can not have them all in. What really remarkable is that the first subway in Shanghai was built in 1993, and in a decade or so, it boasts the longest subway in the world.

 

[Mista]

Beijing and Shanghai's subways are real subways, if counted the city railways in with the great Beijing and Shanghai regions, it'll be another story.

Like I said, different countries have different definitions of city boundaries. For example Beijing (16000 km2) includes suburban/rural area surrounding the urban area and a large swathe of mountainous region. It's more like an urban agglomeration in other countries, unlike Tokyo, NYC, Paris or Seoul which usually refers only the urban core (600+ km2). Hence the disparity in land area and population.

 

[Menthol]

Beijing and Shanghai's subways are real subways, if counted the city railways in with the great Beijing and Shanghai regions, it'll be another story.

Some Chinese city subways, one screeshot can not have them all in. What really remarkable is that the first subway in Shanghai was built in 1993, and in a decade or so, it boasts the longest subway in the world.

I'm still puzzling...

How can China get so much money to build all of these?

It's not just building metro systems, but also HSR, highway, powerplants, bridges, tunnels, skyscrapers, etc at the same time.

All of them are not cheap and many are breaking the world records.


Not only the Chinese population is 1.4 billion people.

Per capita itself, the number of infrastructure projects divided with the population, it's still considered as above the world average.

China's government is truly rich.

 

[UKBengali]

I'm still puzzling...

How can China get so much money to build all of these?

It's not just building metro systems, but also HSR, highway, powerplants, bridges, tunnels, skyscrapers, etc at the same time.

All of them are not cheap and many are breaking the world records.


Not only the Chinese population is 1.4 billion people.

Per capita itself, the number of infrastructure projects divided with the population, it's still considered as above the world average.

China's government is truly rich.

Not just how much money that China has but also that it has all the expertise and materials itself and so infrastructure projects are cheaper in China than other countries.

 

[beijingwalker]

Not just how much money that China has but also that it has all the expertise and materials itself and so infrastructure projects are cheaper in China than other countries.

I guess that's true, mass production can always bring down the price, the cost of those projects are not so expensive as in most other countries.

 

[UKBengali]

I guess that's true, mass production can always bring down the price, the cost of those projects are not so expensive as in most other countries.

Yeah China can make things quick and cheaper than others.

BD has selected China for the 12 billion US dollar Dhaka-Chittagong "bullet-train" line.

 

[Mista]

I'm still puzzling...

How can China get so much money to build all of these?

It's the HK model.

High property and land prices which indirectly fund and maintain these infrastructure projects. Most subways in the world don't break even, but HK's MTR is able to make a profit by internalizing some of the positive externalities.

What Is an Externality?
An externality is an economic term referring to a cost or benefit incurred or received by a third party. However, the third party has no control over the creation of that cost or benefit.

An externality can be both positive or negative and can stem from either the production or consumption of a good or service. The costs and benefits can be both private—to an individual or an organization—or social, meaning it can affect society as a whole.

An externality may not affect the entity that causes the externality.

Pollution emitted by a factory that muddies the surrounding environment and affects the health of nearby residents is a negative externality. The effect of a well-educated labor force on the productivity of a company is an example of a positive externality.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/externality.asp

For example, HK's MTR owns the piece of land where MTR stations are located. The value of the land then appreciates after the completion of the project, which the MTR can sell or lease out for rental income. Similarly, the government also profits when the surrounding land appreciates, which can then be sold at a higher price for property developers.

It's the reason why HK have such low taxes and yet have superb infrastructure and a budget surplus every year, although it helps that they don't have to pay for a military unlike Singapore.

But of course there's a price. The result is slaving away for the next 30 years to own a small but expensive property, and sky high rents for shops. You can see these phenomena already happening in the first-tier cities in China. It leads to a potential rent-seeking economy and it has negative consequences for the economy in the long run.

Or you can look at Japan. They have superb railways too. But it's the result of multiple fiscal stimulus to jump start their economy, and now their debt is 200% of GDP. Their land prices collapsed after the burst of their bubble in the 90s.

 

[Menthol]

It's the HK model.

High property and land prices which indirectly fund and maintain these infrastructure projects. Most subways in the world don't break even, but HK's MTR is able to make a profit by internalizing some of the positive externalities.


https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/externality.asp

For example, HK's MTR owns the piece of land where MTR stations are located. The value of the land then appreciates after the completion of the project, which the MTR can sell or lease out for rental income. Similarly, the government also profits when the surrounding land appreciates, which can then be sold at a higher price for property developers.

It's the reason why HK have such low taxes and yet have superb infrastructure and a budget surplus every year, although it helps that they don't have to pay for a military unlike Singapore.

But of course there's a price. The result is slaving away for the next 30 years to own a small but expensive property, and sky high rents for shops. You can see these phenomena already happening in the first-tier cities in China. It leads to a potential rent-seeking economy and it has negative consequences for the economy in the long run.

Or you can look at Japan. They have superb railways too. But it's the result of multiple fiscal stimulus to jump start their economy, and now their debt is 200% of GDP. Their land prices collapsed after the burst of their bubble in the 90s.

Thank you for the explanation!

It's very insightful.

I wonder what is the solution for expensive land price and rent cost?

Does this will be like this forever?

 

[Mista]

I wonder what is the solution for expensive land price and rent cost?

See Japan.

Their land prices collapsed after the burst of their bubble in the 90s.