Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
Two new stations serving Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR) network were officially opened to the public early in the morning. The stations were built in a hilly region of the Western District of Hong Kong Island. One of these facilities, Kennedy Town Station, is located in the Kennedy Town community on the northwestern end... Continue Reading →
In Ireland, a form of integrated ticketing for a cross-section of transit networks made its debut in the Dublin region. The Leap Card is a prepaid card that can be used for public transportation services such as Dublin Bus, the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) system, Iranród Éireann (Irish Rail), and Luas tram/light rail network.... Continue Reading →
The first line of Singapore’s Light Rail Transit (LRT) series of fully automated transit systems was opened in the residential town and planning area of Bukit Panjang. This initial segment, known as the Bukit Panjang LRT Line, was formally inaugurated by Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Tony Tan Keng Yam. Tan, who has since... Continue Reading →
The first line of a new rapid transit system in Spain’s capital city of Madrid was opened to the general public. The opening took place just two weeks after Spain’s King Alfonso XIII officially inaugurated this initial segment of the Madrid Metro. At the time of its debut, Line 1 of the Madrid Metro encompassed... Continue Reading →
Jens Theodor Paludan Vogt, a civil engineer, and public transportation pioneer died at the age of 62 in Norway’s capital city of Kristiania. (In 1924, the city formally readopted its original name of Oslo.) Vogt had been born in 1830 in the Norwegian parish of Fiskum. To say that Jens Vogt came from a highly... Continue Reading →
The first line of a new subway system in the South Korean city of Incheon began operations after six years of construction. The initial section of the north-south Incheon Subway Line 1 covered approximately 12 miles between the Bakchon and Dongmak stations. Incheon Subway Line 1, which is also included as part of the Seoul... Continue Reading →
In Egypt, the first section of the Cairo Metro rapid transit system was opened. This section was an 18-mile segment of Line 1 between the city of Helwan in the Greater Cairo metropolitan area and Ramses Square in Egypt’s capital. The first substantive proposal for such a transit service had been made during the 1930s... Continue Reading →
Metro San Lázaro, one of the earliest stations of the Mexico City Metro rapid transit system, was opened in the Venustiano Carranza municipality in Mexico’s capital city. Metro San Lázaro is located near the permanent meeting place of the Chamber of Deputies, which is the lower house of the Mexican government’s legislative branch (Congress of... Continue Reading →
After nearly three decades of planning and construction, a new rapid transit system was fully opened to the general public for regular all-day service in Finland’s capital and largest city. (Test drives during rush hours only had been initiated two months earlier.) Finnish President Mauno Koivisto formally inaugurated the Helsinki Metro, which is the northernmost... Continue Reading →
In France, the first line of a new rapid transit system in Paris opened without ceremony. The Paris Métro made its debut while the city was hosting the World’s Fair (Exposition Universelle). “The line extends across the whole of Paris, from Vincennes to the Paris Maillot, Bois de Boulogne,” reported the London-based Standard newspaper. “It... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 