Metro Center Station from the Red Line level, which is the level you enter on; the orange and blue lines run below. I would never claim that D.C.'s metro is the nicest or most architecturally interesting subway system I've ever seen, but it still is very cool. I've complained before that it's dark and drab and echoey and whatever, but there is still a certain grandeur in all that concrete. What's the best subway in the world? The variables could be aesthetics, engineering prowess, or reliability or utility. My hazy memories of the St. Petersburg subway are that it was technically awesome just because of its size and complexity and the incredible depth of many of its tunnels. And I know I've been on a subway somewhere where all the stations were lined with colorful tile and very bright. What about the London tube? Is that a subway system to wax poetic about? Readers of the BBC News weighed in with their thoughts on some of the world's subway systems in 1991 (scroll down), and here are some system maps at scale, along with links to the actual systems. The NYC subway has a cool page with links and pics of lots of other subway systems, and Urban Rail offers even more; you can find lots of system maps and images here.Oh, and here's a list of the largest subway systems in the world by ridership.