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On this day in 1863, the world’s oldest underground railway opened between Paddington and Farringdon, the first stations of the London Underground. This quiz is all about metros and other rapid transit systems.
Track record
1 From which city’s underground railway network did the term ‘metro’ become popular for such transport systems?
2 Opened in 1904, which city has the largest rapid transit system in the world with a total of 472 stations in operation?
3 Which 2009 film starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta, a remake of a 1974 film, is about the hijack of a New York subway train on 77th street?
4 One of the oldest and busiest rapid transit systems in Southeast Asia, which city’s metro network was also built as a defence resource with civil defence bunkers and air raid shelters and had the capacity to withstand aerial bombs and chemical attacks?
5 Another rapid system in Europe was used as a bomb shelter during the long siege of the city in World War II and is one of the deepest metros in the world, with one station 282 ft below sea level. Identify this metro network.
6 A classmate of former chief election commissioner TN Seshan in both school and college, which former Indian Railway Service officer is known as the ‘Metro Man’ for his work on the Delhi and Kochi metro services. He is currently working on the Lucknow metro and is an adviser to the Jaipur and Coimbatore metros.
7 With more than 3 billion footfalls every year, which subway system is easily the busiest in the world?
8 In the Japanese metro network, what job is performed by people known as ‘oshiya’, usually hired during the winter months?
9 The Kolkata Metro is the first metro network in India, having commenced operations in 1984. Which matinee idol is the Tollygunge station on this network named after?
10 The first metro network in Europe was the London metro. Which was the first metro network in continental Europe, with the first line being completed in 1896? Its beautiful functionality and form has earned it a place in the list of Unesco World Heritage Sites.
Answers
1 Paris. The original company to build the Paris Metro was the Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris. The system was known as La Metropolitan, which later came to be known as the metro.
2 The New York Subway.
3 The Taking of Pelham 123, based on a novel by Morton Freedgood.
4 The Singapore MRT.
5 The St Petersburg Metro, originally known as the Order of Lenin Leningrad Metro.
6 E Sreedharan; he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2008.
7 The Tokyo subway. Shinjuku is the busiest station on the planet.
8 They are pushers who push people into trains and make sure the doors are shut. The increased clothing during winters makes their work necessary in busy stations.
9 Mahanayak Uttam Kumar. Tollygunge was the traditional hub of the Bengal film industry.
10 The Budapest Metro.
Joy Bhattacharjya is a quizmaster;
Twitter: @joybhattacharj