[FREKI]

The results of the this years awards are in..

And the the winner of "Best Metro 2008" is: http://www.terrapinn.com/2008/metroaward/Img/copenhagenlogo.gif ( Copenhagen Metro ) :banana:

http://i32.tinypic.com/29lixxx.jpg
Copenhagen metro wins “World’s Best Metro” award
11-04-2008

Industry experts from capitals around the world have voted Copenhagen Metro the best metro in the world in competition with metro systems in London, Madrid, Singapore and elsewhere.

The award was given for the Metro's high operational reliability, the speed with which the new line to Copenhagen Airport was built, high passenger satisfaction and the system's safety level, writes the metro company in its press release.

Copenhagen Municipality is among the three owners of the Metro and was represented at the award ceremony by City Council member Jesper Christensen.

"As a capital and a great city, it is a tremendous honour and satisfaction to receive such an award for our Metro. However, I also think that this recognition is clear proof that it is the right thing now to expand the existing Metro with the City Ring Line as a start, which will be completed in 10 years - hopefully to be followed by more lines," says Jesper Christensen.

“That industry experts from metro systems such as London, New York and Tokyo think that Copenhagen Metro is the world’s best is a great honour. Their systems have been refined over many years whereas we continue to be among the youngest members of the world’s metro family. Luckily though, it is not just our colleagues who are impressed by Copenhagen Metro. Our latest customer satisfaction survey shows that 98 per cent of our customers are either satisfied or very satisfied. It is the best survey result since the opening of the Metro in 2002,” says Henning Christophersen Chairman of the Metroselskabet I/S.

Copenhagen Metro was opened on 19 October 2002 and is among the world’s latest, most advanced and high frequency metro systems with fully automatic un-manned trains.

Approximately 40 million passengers used the Metro in 2007
http://www.copcap.com/composite-11098.htm


The 2008 awards:


Best Metro:
http://www.terrapinn.com/2008/metroaward/Img/copenhagenlogo.gif
( Copenhagen Metro )

Best Metro Europe:
http://www.terrapinn.com/2008/metroaward/Img/copenhagenlogo.gif
( Copenhagen Metro )


Best Metro Asia Pacific:
http://www.terrapinn.com/2008/metroaward/Img/mtrlogo.gif ( MTR Corporation Limited (Hong Kong) )


Most Improved Metro:
http://www.terrapinn.com/2008/metroaward/Img/madridlogo.gif ( Metro de Madrid, S.A. )

Best Passenger Experience:
http://www.terrapinn.com/2008/metroaward/Img/smrtlogo.gif
( SMRT Trains Limited (Singapore) )


Best Metro Project:
http://www.terrapinn.com/2008/metroaward/Img/rtalogox150.gif
( RTA Dubai )


Best New Station:
http://www.terrapinn.com/2008/metroaward/Img/warsawmetrologo.gif
( Wilson Square Station - Warsaw )


Special Merit Award for Commitment to the Environment:
http://www.terrapinn.com/2008/metroaward/Img/calgarylogo.gif
( Calgary Transit )


Best Maintenance Programme:
http://www.terrapinn.com/2008/metroaward/Img/nyctransitlogo.gif
( MTA New York City Transit )

More here: http://www.terrapinn.com/2008/metroaward/index.stm

And here: http://www.copcap.com/composite-11098.htm


Not really sure how official the awards is or why they have a Europe and Asia Pacific regional award but none for the rest of the world, but hey - why not right :)


For people unfamiliar with Copenhagen metro it's driverless, rarely crowded, fast and reliable and has a nice Scandinavian design.. a nice feature is the big windscreen that lets you look forward while driving

1st person view from an underground section
-9b7Irhxqiw

If I had to bitch about something the seats could be better and the I would have liked some larger station, maybe with a few shops underground :)

[staff]

Copenhagen's Metro being ranked #1 makes this list bogus imo.
I do agree about the MTR and Metro de Madrid though.

[VivaLFuego]

Is there a world's worst metro list? That would be alot more entertaining to discuss :)

[Jaroslaw]

The "best new station" award went to "plac Wilsona" station in Warsaw; some photos of it:

http://metro.civ.pl/galeria.php?foto_dir=./foto/stacja%20Plac%20Wilsona

http://metro.civ.pl/foto/stacja%20Plac%20Wilsona/DSC03554_resize.JPG

And from urbanrail:

http://de.geocities.com/m_warszawa/warsaw-metro-gallery.htm

As for the worst subway in the world, I'd be interested if anyone can report about one that's worse--dirtier, noisier, more dilapidated--than Chicago's. I certainly can't.

[Pavlov's Dog]

What's surprising is that it took København so long to build a metro. Good system though.

World's best? I wouldn't say so. Madrid impresses me more. Amazing system for the population basis.

[Crawford]

As for the worst subway in the world, I'd be interested if anyone can report about one that's worse--dirtier, noisier, more dilapidated--than Chicago's. I certainly can't.

Philly?

[staff]

What's surprising is that it took København so long to build a metro.

Copenhagen has had the S-train system, which also is a metro (by the common definition), for something like 70 years. The point of the new Metro is to move people within the downtown/inner-city at ultra high frequency.


Hong Kong's MTR remains the best system I have ever travelled on. It is flawless.

[Crawford]

I haven't visited HK, but my impression is that it has the world's all-around best metro (though Tokyo has the world's best transit).

In Europe, the Paris Metro is my favorite, though I would probably go with Munich for things like design, cleanliness, efficiency, etc.

In North America the NYC subway is my favorite, though I would probably go with DC or Montreal for design, cleanliness, efficiency, etc.

[VivaLFuego]

As for the worst subway in the world, I'd be interested if anyone can report about one that's worse--dirtier, noisier, more dilapidated--than Chicago's. I certainly can't.

Until only very recently, New York's sure was worse, especially outside of Manhattan. The Manhattan stations and tracks have mostly been rehabbed, some of the outer boroughs are still pretty dreadful.

But yeah, good metros....
I actually really like the Vancouver Skytrain for its overall paradigm, I think thats the general "future" of rapid transit....automated small trainsets every 60-90 seconds.

[emathias]

...
As for the worst subway in the world, I'd be interested if anyone can report about one that's worse--dirtier, noisier, more dilapidated--than Chicago's. I certainly can't.

Honestly, New York beats Chicago in scale and, in my opinion, that's about it, anymore. Beyond Scale, Chicago and NYC are quite similar in their current state of repair, etc. Chicago's made great strides the past few years in improving itself. The last time I was in New York (this was in March of this year - 2008), the station I used the most (Dyckman) was so dilapidated that no matter where I stood on the platform (under the awning) I got wet when it rained because the roof leaked so badly. There are stations in Chicago with leaky roofs, but none that are 100% leaky that I've run across.

The worst metro I've used was Boston's, personally.

[Jaroslaw]

-My impression was that both NY and Boston had better rolling stock. Haven't had the pleasure of Philly...

-I don't like the HK metro so much, it's way overcrowded, the single-ticket machines take only coins, the stations are often deep and the exits laborious and inconvenient. I mean, Budapest is very deep too, but usually you have just one long escalator ride to the surface, instead of going up two or three levels. And the endless walkways at Causeway Bay...

Seoul has a great metro.

[anm]

Best Maintenance Programme:
http://www.terrapinn.com/2008/metroaward/Img/nyctransitlogo.gif
( MTA New York City Transit )

More here: http://www.terrapinn.com/2008/metroaward/index.stm

And here: http://www.copcap.com/composite-11098.htm



This sounded intriguing, to say the least, so I went to there to find out what the deal was and found... nothing.

************

40 mil a year is appropriate for a decent LRT line... comparing this to large systems like Tokyo is nonsense.

[FREKI]

40 mil a year is appropriate for a decent LRT line... comparing this to large systems like Tokyo is nonsense.As Staff mentioned Copenhagen Metro is not the only Metro around here, we also have the S-Train (http://funini.com/train/denmark/imgs/stog_4.jpg) - and Copenhagen Metro have still the cirle stretch to come ( under construction ), but we will of course never see the numbers Tokyo have - the city outnumbers us with about 33 million :haha:

( the S Train system have ~90mil yearly )


S-Train and Metro Map
http://www.ooaj.com/travel-pics/en/e/e9/Map_trains_cph.png
M lines are the new metro

[VivaLFuego]

40 mil a year is appropriate for a decent LRT line... comparing this to large systems like Tokyo is nonsense.

Perhaps as a measure of operational efficiency.

But in terms of how good the metro is in the context of its region, it's percent share of all travelers would be a better measure, since obviously Copenhagen is much smaller than Tokyo, Moscow, New York, etc. i.e. answer the question "How effective is it for its home city?" If anything, overcrowding suggests inadequacy.

[Crawford]

Copenhagen has massive bike ridership, which is obviously even more green than metro ridership.

Copenhagen may be the #1 bike city on earth. The biking numbers probably depress transit statistics.

[dchan]

As for the worst subway in the world, I'd be interested if anyone can report about one that's worse--dirtier, noisier, more dilapidated--than Chicago's. I certainly can't.

Noisier? No. I remember thinking New York's older trains were pretty noisy, especially when the air-conditioner stopped working and someone opened the window. But then I took one of the Chicago trains.

Above ground, it was quite pleasant I must say. Underneath the Loop area was a whole other story. The first thing that jumped out at to me was the fact some of the stations were separated literally by a friggin wall. That was seriously a "what the fuck?" moment.

I was listening to my Coltrane CDs while going to visit Northwestern University at that time. But the problem was that I couldn't underground. It was seriously so fucking loud that I couldn't hear any music at all. And it wasn't even a dull roar that the NYC subways have; it was a jarring loud clacking and metallic knocking noise. I can't imagine taking in that type of noise as a daily commute.

But besides the weird quirks in the system, I thought it was a fine system.

[Crawford]

The underground portion of Chicago's Blue Line is amazingly noisy. Hearing-loss noisy, even if all the windows are closed.

But the vast majority of the Chicago L is above ground and therefore not too noisy.

[FREKI]

Copenhagen has massive bike ridership, which is obviously even more green than metro ridership.

Copenhagen may be the #1 bike city on earth. The biking numbers probably depress transit statistics.Very true, I think something like 1 in 3 uses bikes for daily transportation - we are however not #1 - that title belongs to the Netherlands :)


We also have a VERY extensive bus network and a ton of regional trains, so ridership it's all spread out..

[FREKI]

Cute commercial for Copenhagen Metro :)

jQQqgJFGOyk

Old "action packed" one..
j5a_5vTDXT4

[JMancuso]

is bike theft as big a problem in CPH as it is in amsterdam?

[FREKI]

is bike theft as big a problem in CPH as it is in amsterdam?I don't think so..

It not that bikes don't get stolen here, they do, but most people already have one or two bikes, and it's not like they are especially expensive, so compared to other criminal activities it's not the most lucrative..

If I were to guess I would say the majority of stolen bikes are either for parts, drunk idiots trying to get home or insurence fraud..


BTW I was amazed that in the Netherlands every bike had some big ass chain lock - looked crazy :haha:

[R@ptor]

I don't know. The CPH metro is really nice, but it has just two short lines. IMO Hong Kong and Singapore have the best metro systems and I was really impressed with Guangzhou's new subway system as well.

Is there a world's worst metro list? That would be alot more entertaining to discuss :)

Rome without a doubt...it's even worse than Philadelphia's. Opened for the Olympic Games in 1960 and nothing seems to have changed since then.

[Crawford]

I forgot about Rome. Rome is horrible, especially for lofty European transit standards.

I haven't been to Buenos Aires, but I hear it is in awful shape in parts.

[canucklehead2]

I'm wondering was the Calgary C-Train given the nod because it's wind powered? If so, I'm glad the concept is getting more press worldwide. To me it's probably the easiest and most ecologically responsible way to get around not only in Calgary but in any other city, hands down. And I completely find it ironic that the system is located in a place totally ruled by petro dollars.. Go figure!

[ColDayMan]

Milan's was pretty dirty as well.

[hk_ayu]

-I don't like the HK metro so much, it's way overcrowded, the single-ticket machines take only coins, the stations are often deep and the exits laborious and inconvenient. I mean, Budapest is very deep too, but usually you have just one long escalator ride to the surface, instead of going up two or three levels. And the endless walkways at Causeway Bay...



All of your complaints have a reason behind. Many of those are part of the crowd control measures. Hong Kong is the most densely populated area in the world so you just can't view it in a normal way.


Are you talking about the long underground walkway to Times Square?? Isn't it a good thing to provide a comfortable walking environment for people who want to go somewhere a bit far from the train station?? The underground walkway also provides extra capacity for pedestrian flow because it's already overcrowded on the ground surface.

Some of the one-way ticket vending machines do accept notes. The ratio is about 1 in 4. They simply don't want people to use notes as it's gonna slow the queue down, which may lead to a disaster. Think of the strong human tide in Hong Kong.

Deep stations are only limited on Hong Kong Island due to the complicated underground condition. The underground space is very limited so it's not practical to put many long escalators. Also, human tide is like a flooding river so you have to make some buffer areas to control the rate of human flow. Otherwise there is gonna be a big disaster, such as human tide draining back to the escalator.

Hong Kong designers are genius on human tide control and space efficiency simply because they were brought up in those condition.

[hk_ayu]

Perhaps as a measure of operational efficiency.

But in terms of how good the metro is in the context of its region, it's percent share of all travelers would be a better measure, since obviously Copenhagen is much smaller than Tokyo, Moscow, New York, etc. i.e. answer the question "How effective is it for its home city?" If anything, overcrowding suggests inadequacy.


I don't think Copenhagen Metro is very energy efficient. I remember some scientists said only a patronised public transport system can give obvious environmental benefits over private transport. A train with only 10 passengers is even more harmful to the environment than 10 private cars.

[crossword]

About the subway, I found an interesting website!
Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin-Line is openning soon on June 14.

Ikebukuro-Shinjuku-Shibuya, incrediblly difficult line in the point of construction!

http://www.tokyometro.jp/fukutoshin/#/data

You can get on the line by clicking　「乗車する→」.

http://www.do-tokyoheart.jp/

Though I don't know much about Tokyo as living in Osaka- Kobe area,
as far as I read in the newspapers and website,
it introduces the state of the art technologies and environmentally friendly system as well.

[SuburbanNation]

.

[FREKI]

I don't think Copenhagen Metro is very energy efficient. I remember some scientists said only a patronised public transport system can give obvious environmental benefits over private transport. A train with only 10 passengers is even more harmful to the environment than 10 private cars.Most of the energy used do come from windpower..

( 30% or something of Danish electricty is generated by windmills )

[Dac150]

The Manhattan stations and tracks have mostly been rehabbed, some of the outer boroughs are still pretty dreadful.


It's all part of the experience and the ambiance.;)

[tdawg]

Our system works just fine. It may not be the prettiest or the cleanest but it gets us almost anywhere in this huge city to one of over 460 stations at any minute of the day or night, and all for only $2.

[Fabb]

Our system works just fine. It may not be the prettiest or the cleanest but it gets us almost anywhere in this huge city to one of over 460 stations at any minute of the day or night, and all for only $2.

But the wait can be very long and some entrances may be closed - downtown Brooklyn on Sunday afternoon.
I was very surprised.