Show subways great help in Seed speeding U fi 9 T up U T p traffic 1 callic type of rapid transit used in most countries washington D C discussions of a subway for the district of columbia are reminders that this is the only major national capital of the world today without this type of rapid transit says the national geographic society england france germany japan argentina and soviet russia all these world powers have underground railways italy joining the countries with underground transportation por tation this year ar broke ground in february to plant four miles of subway at the roots of ancient rome itself even countries which do not have marked traffic congestion have so far the closest approximation to a subway in washington is a midget underground railway which has no schedule no tickets and only the most distinguished patrons it shuttles back and forth beneath the capitol and the senate office building carrying senators from office to oratory without exposure to traffie traffic or weather hazards in liverpool newark rochester and athens the street railways lead a dr jekyll mr hyde existence going underground for only part of their career london blazed the subway trail with an underground steam rail railway way in the glasgow scotland followed suit in 1896 berlin another pioneer now has over 40 miles of subway instead of separate cars for different classes of passengers as in part of lon dons underground system it makes a distinction only between smokers and non smokers with red cars for the former and yellow coaches for the latter some of its subway stations such as the alexander platz with its pictures in tile of old berlin lint are three stories high and serve the elevated railway as well paris has an even larger system spreading an underground spiderweb beneath the cites foundation with stations in contrast to new yorks simple coin in the slot entrances the subways of paris require tickets for first and second class travel the subway has even reached asia for japan now uses this rapid transit solution for two of her rapidly growing cities tokyo and osaka moscow a newcomer A newcomer to the subway circuit is moscow with thirteen stations on three routes radiating from the ayad station in the center of the new business and hotel section in their spare time volun teer workers joined in the labor of tunneling through marshy earth and the marble stations are free of advertising and mechanical ventilation and unusually lofty ceilings 15 to 20 feet high instead of the more usual 10 give an impression of airiness subways are an old story in the new world for boston has had one since the beginning of this century philadelphian Phila delphias narrow streets made that city also dig deep for a solution to its traffic problem the subway city par excellence of course is new york where miles of sub sur face track are counted not by fives and tens but by the hundreds and a nickel buys more underground travel than anywhere else in the world in some spots routes were blasted through solid rock without disturbing tall buildings on the surface farthest south subway is that of buenos aires three systems connect the central business district with the outlying suburbs of belgrano palermo and saavedra the tunnel of one is large enough for regular railroad trains provid provided d their capitals with subways hungary spain scotland and greece chile has approved subway plans for santiago and czechoslovakia has started on fifteen underground der ground miles for prague londona Lon dons tubes paris metro berlins white U on a blue ground the broad flaming mf over Mos cows subway entrances crowds tunneling funneling into the sidewalk hoods of new yorks subways all are the talk of tourists and the speedy escape from tangles of surface traffic many subway systems about out seventeen cities in the world have subway systems with underground tracks stations and appropriate cars or trains four others have underground sections in their street railways where surface cars go undercover for several stations then emerge farther on A great many more street railway systems employ underground passages where track and train dip below the surface to avoid a hill or a congested area as in pittsburgh and in los angeles and at the kobe end of the line between Japa japans rips metropolis of osaka and its port kobe chicago has a subway for freight but none for passengers |