https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Eristoneexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-04-13T15:10:14ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1196:_Subways&diff=328451196: Subways2013-04-08T14:48:26Z<p>Eristone: </p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1196<br />
| date = April 8, 2013<br />
| title = Subways<br />
| image = subways.png<br />
| titletext = About one in three North American subway stops are in NYC.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
The xkcd page links to [http://xkcd.com/1196/large/ a much larger version], which has another text added:<br />
<blockquote style="font-style:italic"><br />
For the pedantic rail enthusiasts, the definition of a subway used here is, with some caveats, "a network containing high capacity grade-separated passenger rail transit lines which run frequently, serve an urban core, and are underground or elevated for at least part of their downtown route." For the rest of you, the definition is "a bunch of trains under a city."<br />
</blockquote><br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic shows the maps of all North American {{w|subway}} networks. In reality, none of these systems are interconnected, but in the diagram two subways from different cities are connected, if they have the same color on the official subway map. The "Springfield Monorail" is fictional, from the animated series "{{w|The Simpsons}}" (see {{w|Marge vs. the Monorail}}).<br />
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The networks on the map are displayed in (relatively) geographic position, with {{w|Vancouver}} being the most North-West, and {{w|Mexico City}} being the most South – East/West and North/South order are correct, but distances are not (in reality, Vancouver is closer to Chicago than to Toronto for example).<br />
<br />
Here are some official subway maps:<br />
* Boston - http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/subway/<br />
* Cleveland - http://www.riderta.com/pdf/maps/System_Map_Rapid_Connect.pdf<br />
* Montreal - http://www.stm.info/english/metro/images/plan-metro.jpg<br />
* New York City - http://www.mta.info/maps/submap.html<br />
* Toronto - http://tourbytransit.com/toronto/images/Toronto-Subway-Map.png<br />
* Vancouver - http://mapa-metro.com/mapas/Vancouver/mapa-metro-vancouver.png<br />
* San Francisco - http://www.bart.gov/images/global/system-map.gif<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Charts]]<br />
[[Category:Large drawings]]</div>Eristone