The Beijing Subway is the rapid transit system of Beijing Municipality that consists of 27 lines including 22 rapid transit lines, two airport rail links, one maglev line and 2 light rail lines, and 490 stations. The rail network extends 836 km (519 mi) across 12 urban and suburban districts of Beijing and into one district of Langfang in neighboring Hebei province. With 3.8484 billion trips delivered in 2018, an average of 10.544 million trips per day, the Beijing Subway is the world's busiest metro system. Single-day ridership set a record of 13.7538 million on July 12, 2019. Being 836 kilometres (519 mi) in system length, the Beijing Subway is the longest metro system by route length, surpassing the Shanghai Metro in December 2023.
A line 13 train leaving Huoying station
A single-ride farecard
A Line 2 train
Line 1 platform at Tian'anmen East Station
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be called a subway, tube, or underground. Unlike buses or trams, rapid transit systems are railways, usually electric, that operate on an exclusive right-of-way, which cannot be accessed by pedestrians or other vehicles. They are often grade-separated in tunnels or on elevated railways.
The London Underground is the world's first and oldest rapid transit system.
The New York City Subway is the world's largest single-operator rapid transit system by number of metro stations, at 472.
A crowded Paris Métro average station platform in 2007
A station of the Guangzhou Metro in 2005