Oct 04
2010
Metro and Underground Maps Designs Around the World
- By Noupe Editorial Team
- Posted in Inspiration
- 71 comments
In this post, we have collected some interesting metro map designs around the globe. These maps show the infrastructure of the city; each city is different from another because of the look, feel, regional culture, typography and many other things. These maps would be helpful for you in exploring these differences and would also come handy when you want to find out any place in the city. As designer, you can also learn a bit or two about wayfinding graphics when analyzing these designs. So, here’s the inspiring compilation of metro maps from around the world.
Europe
America
Asia
Hitesh Mehta, 04 October 2010
Fabulous!
John Paul, 04 October 2010
Well made .
Heesa Phadie, 04 October 2010
Those are great!
vatsal, 04 October 2010
missed out new delhi , india
Brayden Styles, 04 October 2010
you missed Toronto’s Subway Map http://subway.umka.org/map-toronto.html
Torstein, 04 October 2010
Isn’t both Moscow and Kiev in Europe? ;)
Stac, 04 October 2010
Moscow is in Russia :)
Both europeans and asians want to see it on their continent :)
Des, 28 November 2012
Err… Russia is in both Europe and Asia. Moscow, however, is in Europe. It’s on the west side of the Ural mountains, so there’s no doubt about that at all.
Brandon Lewis, 04 October 2010
Yes, Kiev and Moscow are both European cities. Russia, west of the Ural Mountains, is all Europe.
mannuel, 04 October 2010
Nice post, don’t forget the newly built Guatrain in South Africa. Recently launched, pre World Cup 2010.
http://join.gautrain.co.za/map.aspx
Rick, 04 October 2010
Interesting how so many use the same design, give or take.
Convergent independent design, mimicry of original design or deliberate family style for ease of interpretation?
Shaun, 04 October 2010
Most of the designs stem from the original work done on the London Underground map by Harry Beck.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Beck
Jim Ramsden, 04 October 2010
That’s an impressive collection, boarding on nerdy infact :)
Stac, 04 October 2010
There is an official metro map for Moscow in this post.
But Ilya Birman have disigned a better map. Take a look, see the difference: http://ilyabirman.ru/portfolio/moscow-metro/
From his page (translated by Google):
“There are maps in the cars of one of the fastest and most reliable subway in the world, which is painful to see. I drew a good one.”
Important differences between offical and Birman’s map:
“Station, connected by junctions, integrated into knots. Names of stations not get on the adjacent line. Proper use of uppercase and lowercase letters, the names easily readable even in small bowls. Lines signed not only a legend, but in the end stations.”
Stac, 04 October 2010
There is an official metro map for Moscow in this post.
But Ilya Birman have disigned a better map. Take a look, see the difference: ilyabirman.ru/portfolio/moscow-metro/
From his page (translated by Google):
“There are maps in the cars of one of the fastest and most reliable subway in the world, which is painful to see. I drew a good one.”
Important differences between offical and Birman’s map:
“Station, connected by junctions, integrated into knots. Names of stations not get on the adjacent line. Proper use of uppercase and lowercase letters, the names easily readable even in small bowls. Lines signed not only a legend, but in the end stations.”
Koen Hendrix, 04 October 2010
Great stuff, nice to compare the differences between all these designs!
Also, I’d like note that Buenos Aires is not Europe. Quite far away from it, actually :)
Neshama, 04 October 2010
Excellent comparison!
Just note that Buenos Aires is in South America and Barcelona is in Europe. I think they got mixed up =P
zedkin, 05 October 2010
I was just going to comment that….
Alex Mitchell, 04 October 2010
Have been to Tokyo a few times and always so incredibly grateful at how well organised and designed their maps are. It was one of my biggest worries, as I’m not used to these mass networks of lines, etc. Next challenge; driving!
Shafiq Najam, 04 October 2010
This post is very helpfull for me, thank you so much for sharing quality information.
Marta Sylvia del Río, 04 October 2010
Mexico City’s
http://www.metro.df.gob.mx/imagenes/red/redinternet.pdf
Monterrey City’s
http://www.nl.gob.mx/pics/pages/mapalineas_base/redmetro.jpg
insaneminotaur, 04 October 2010
Nice! But you forgot the second longest metro in Europe: Madrid’s metro in Spain. It has a nice new design:
http://www.softguides.com/madrid_guide/maps/graphics/madrid-zones-photos/metro-madrid-map-2007.gif
Also pretty interesting, its circular alternative:
http://www.inconexo.com/2010/05/10/plano-de-metro-de-madrid-circular/
Rebecca, 04 October 2010
That is an interesting collection. I remember seeing a show about the London map and the work that went into making it not only functional, but a selling point.
Eh, 04 October 2010
I would also like to chip in that Buenos Aires is definitely not in Europe, although it is very much like a European city.
Similarly, Barcelona is in Spain, which is Europe… Not the Americas.
Raúl Rodríguez, 04 October 2010
Muy bueno, pero falta el Metro de Santiago de Chile
http://www.metro.cl/estacion/plano-red
Ash, 04 October 2010
Nothing from Australia :( ?
Alexandre, 05 October 2010
WTF, where it is São Paulo, Brazil?!
Fazal Majid, 05 October 2010
I don’t know where you got the San Francisco map from, it does not look anything like the much nicer official one posted in the subway:
http://transit.511.org/static/providers/maps/SF_712200722845.gif
Most of SF’s transit is buses rather than subways, and this is the map users see more often:
http://transit.511.org/static/providers/maps/SF_123200991053.gif
gopalb, 05 October 2010
What about Kolkata(Calcutta) and Delhi Metro….
Sam, 05 October 2010
CityRail in NSW, Australia has a zoomable network map at http://www.cityrail.info/stations/network_map
Stijn, 05 October 2010
FYI: Osaka (Japan) has been sorted under “America”.
Kyros Koh, 05 October 2010
I’m impressed with all the metro and underground maps over the world. Yet featured Singapore’s (where I’m belong). *thumbs up*
Zentaurus, 05 October 2010
Muy interesante, pero concuerdo con Raúl, ¡falta el de Chile!
Thanks for this post, it’s very interested and I’ll definitly keep it bookmarked.
Zentaurus, 05 October 2010
Muy interesante, pero concuerdo con Raúl, ¡falta el de Chile!
Thanks for this post, it’s very interesting and I’ll definitly keep it bookmarked.
(sorry for the other comment, moderator).
hansOlo, 05 October 2010
Barcelona (Spain) in America?
Kiev (Ukraine) in Asia?
Moscow (Russia) in Asia?
… something must be wron :D
and… why there is Munich, but not Hamburg? http://www.big-foot.de/images/Hamburg_U_S_Bahn_Stationen_2.jpg
DesignMango, 05 October 2010
It is really interesting to see how they are all different, thanks
Damian, 05 October 2010
Great collection! but is not Buenos Aries, is “Buenos Aires”. And is in South America. Regards!
Mahéshieux, 05 October 2010
Priceless collection. But London Underground maps seems to be out-dated one.
Kristin, 05 October 2010
Ooh, what fun. I lived on the Boston system all childhood and early adulthood. Funny how seeing that map gives me the warm fuzzies.
TDinLA, 05 October 2010
Would love to see Los Angeles added. Yes there is a subway system!
Jordan, 05 October 2010
The NYC subway map in your post is waaay outdated…
Sebastián Fernández, 05 October 2010
Buenos Aires en Europa, Barcelona en America… revisen eso, creo que no son los únicos.
Saludos
Juliano Frezza, 05 October 2010
and São Paulo ? The biggest city in South America !!!
Andrea Fercia, 05 October 2010
why “Buenos Aries, Argentina” is under “Europe” category? and btw it’s spelled “Aires” not “Aries”… see http://www.buenosaires.gov.ar
you Americans… :-)
sebasp, 05 October 2010
http://geohostel.com/site/img/mapa-sitva.png
METRO DE MEDELLÍN, COLOMBIA
Caio Freitag, 06 October 2010
Where is São Paulo – Brazil?
Amer harb, 06 October 2010
2 important cities metro are not mentioned (Stockholm, and Istanbul)
1- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_Metro
2- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul_Metro
Peter Johnston, 11 October 2010
Here’s the official map of the Stockholm Metro (Tunnelbanan). http://sl.se/ficktid/karta%2Fvinter/Tub.pdf
Paulistano, 06 October 2010
Where is the Map of Our Stylish and Modern Metro? – Sao Paulo City – The third biggest city in the World !
Pinolo2, 06 October 2010
Nice collection!
Here you can find Rome’s map:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Metroroma02.png
Rick, 06 October 2010
Inspiring collection!
And here’s a map of the metro in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Metrokaart_Rotterdam_per_17_augustus_2010.svg
Actually Metro is an Dutch acronym for:
Met Een Teringgang Rotterdam Onderdoor
In English:
Travelling very fast via Rotterdam’s underground
Denis, 06 October 2010
The map of the Moscow metro is better here:
http://www.artlebedev.ru/everything/metro/map/
drocvega, 06 October 2010
Where´s Mexico?????
Fernando, 06 October 2010
Nice.
Please update with the new São Paulo metro’s map – São Paulo, Brasil ( http://www.metro.sp.gov.br/redes/mapa.pdf ).
Tks,
Luiz, 07 October 2010
Wonder work. You May add Madrid and Sao Paolo – Brazil. Both have large recent ampliations
Luiz, 07 October 2010
Please, anybody have statistics about this theme: What is the longest, the shortest, the fastest, largest, ….???
zeruch, 07 October 2010
O___O buenos aires in europe? barcelona and osaka in america? sorry, but someone forgot to see the map of the wolrd here u¬¬
and i agree, where is mexico´s metro map? is one of the most biggest subway in the world (and is growing up today)
Ushuaia Info, 07 October 2010
Buenos Aires is in America
JavoVzla, 08 October 2010
y el Metro de Caracas? :S
JavoVzla, 08 October 2010
+Info http://www.metrodecaracas.com.ve/
Sachin, 10 October 2010
Montreal, Canada……..is the one which i like most….almost all of them are nice anyways, but some are little complex…
blink4blog, 10 October 2010
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
http://www.mymalaysiabooks.com/maps/LRTmap.gif
Aleksandr, 11 October 2010
The author is stuck in 1999 according to the map he picked for NYC subway system. Just for your information, it changed.
Fabio, 19 October 2010
In Brazil you just put the Brasilia subway, which is the smallest of the country, should have shown the subway in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest. Who sees the subway map of Brasilia think we don’t have a good transport system and the subway in Sao Paulo is considered one of the best in the world.
See the link with map of São Paulo subway: http://www.metro.sp.gov.br/redes/mapa.pdf
Cristine, 22 October 2010
And São Paulo????????????????????
Daniela, 23 October 2010
Falto el metro de Caracas-Venezuela
sadeck, 23 October 2010
Don´t forget the excellent subway system of Middle-Earth:
http://0.tqn.com/d/scifi/1/0/q/n/-/-/ThereAndBackAgain2010.jpg
Marcelo Santos, 27 October 2010
Guys,
I know that SP subway it´s the largest subway in Brazil, but all about the Rio de Janeiro´s subway?
Here is the link: http://www.metrorio.com.br/diagrama_20_08.pdf
ferchongo, 25 November 2010
where is mexico?????
Stiller, 23 May 2011
very good post, i certainly love this amazing site, continue it
Ray, 06 September 2011
official NYC Subway Map PDF:
http://the4040club.com/html/Manhattan_Subway.pdf