Alicante Alicante's rapid transit system is called TRAM, which is a train-tram and is operated by FGV, owned by the Valencian regional government. This system has an underground line in the city center, with three stations on it. The layout consists with one or two mezzanines on level -1 and two side or one island platforms at level -2. Luceros and Mercado stations have direct connection with the underground parking lots, which are located above the TRAM tunnel.
Amsterdam Metro services in Amsterdam can be grouped in two groups. The North-South line (in Dutch, Noord/Zuidlijn) opened recently and M52 services run on it. The central part of the line is underground, running at a considerable depth with two parallel tunnels. The other group of lines consists of services M50, M51, M53 and M54. This line runs mostly overground or elevated, parallel to the Dutch Railways lines. In the city center this line goes underground but at a small depth. Most of the underground stations consist of a mezzannine at level -1 and a island platform at level -2. The vast majority of overground and elevated stations also have island platforms, but the hall where the turnstiles and ticket machines are found is located on the ground level. Taking into account that most of the metro network runs parallel to rail lines, transfers between these two modes of transport are quick and easy.
Antwerp The Antwerp premetro (underground tramway) opened in 1975. One of the achievements consisted in linking both banks of the Scheldt river. Despite the tram network being huge, the Premetro is short but complex. Lines can be grouped in two. The first group consists in an east-west line with two branches on the eastern side. However, there is a tunnel allowing services between both branches, thus forming a triangle. The second group of lines consists in a tunnel opened in 2015, connecting the city center with the eastern suburbs with a fast service, since most of stations are not opened yet. The Central railway station is linked with Astrid and Diamant premetro stations, and together with an underground bike parking, they form a hub. The rail triangle is located in between those two stations. Since the premetro tunnels were built with metro standards, same-level track crossings are not allowed, therefore Astrid and Diamant stations had to be built with platforms at two different levels.
Barcelona Barcelona is the queen of the long passageways. Until 1995, all transfer stations consisted of corridors with lenghts over 100 m, except for Sagrera and Catalunya. Among the reasons for having such long corridors there is the lack of planning or the vision of the metro network as a bunch of individual lines. As an example: line 1 and line 4 were extended to Urquinaona in 1932, but both lines were not connected until 1972, as they were originally operated by different companies. In Plaça de Sants station, the L5 platforms were built as close as possible to the existing ones from L1, which opened 43 years before. However, there is a gap of 150 m, with the national rail tracks located in between. Moreover, since the extension of the metro network was slower than the growth of the city, during the 60s and 70s, transfer stations were built 100-150 m apart, in order to increase the accessibility to the metro. Verdaguer is a good examples of this practice. Right after 1980, transfer stations were designed in a more proper way, being the L2 stations the best example. A new type of transfer appeared 15 years ago with the extension of the metro towards hilly areas of the city: the vertical transfers. In those stations (eg: Vall d'Hebron, Fondo, Zona Universitària, Collblanc), a big shaft was built in order to fit either high-capacity lifts or series of escalators to reach the platforms. The classic layout of metro stations in Barcelona is simple: on level -1 there is one or two mezzanines and in level -2 there are two side platforms, but since 2000 the new stations tend to have a central plafrom instead. In transfer stations, there is tipically a corridor linking the mezzanines of both lines. Mandatory to mention the so-called Barcelona solution or Spanish solution: stations with two tracks and three platforms, where passengers alight using one platform and board using the opposite one, improving the flow of passengers and reducing the dwell time. Barcelona was not the first city to implement it, but it was named after most of the stations built in the 30s, 40s and 50s were designed with such layout.
Berlin The U-Bahn and the S-Bahn are the two rapid transit systems of Berlin. The city-state owns the first and the German railways own the second. The S-Bahn normally runs overground or elevated and the U-Bahn does it underground, as the name suggests in German, but this is not a norm since some parts of the U-Bahn are elevated and vice versa. The oldest lines were built either in elevated sections or underground, but very close to the surface, creating a direct connection between the street and the platforms in most of the cases. The lines built after World War I are a bit deeper, in order to fit mezzanines and corridors between the street and the platform levels. Transfer stations have a very easy tolopolgy, since stations are located close to the ground level and island platforms are predominant.
Bilbao Despite the metro opened in 1995, its layout follows former metric-gauge rail lines that were converted to metro, such as the Bilbao - Plentzia line. Metro Bilbao operates lines 1 and 2 and Euskotren operates line 3, together with other suburban and regional services. Due to the orography of the city, stations may have different layouts. The stations located in the city center are deep, since the Nerbion river is located nearby and there are plenty of hills located in the meanders of the river. The stations of the line 1 branch are located on surface, since they were part of the former Plentzia railway. Line 3 benefits from having already existing stations, such as Bilbao-Aduana (currently called Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo) and Matiko, both part of the former Plentzia line, despite the connection between those two stations is made through a new double-track tunnel. Some transfer stations have effective designs, such as Lutxana or the former Bolueta station.
Boston The author has never been in Boston. All the information has been extracted from sketches posted in Wikimedia Commons, and from pictures and videos posted in the internet as well. All the rapid transit lines in Boston are centenary. Three of them originally opened as underground tramway tunnels in downtown Boston, but only two were converted to pure metro lines. The Green line is still an underground tram line. Most of the downtown stations are quite unusual, as they were built using early construction methods and most were designed to serve as tram stations. For instance, some stations in the Orange line have offset platforms. At State station, the Orange line platforms are in different levels. Underground stations tend to be located close to the surface. This can be appreciated at Government Center, where the Green line platform has a very particular shape because the streets located above ground were quite narrow when the line was constructed, and therefore impossible to dig wider tunnels. Despite being a city where the rapid transit lines were built without a network plan, transfer stations have a good layout, providing short and quick connections.
Brussels The Brussels metro is a good example of a planned system. It was planned in the 60s, and the four existing lines were built following this criteria: if for practical reasons, the section to be opened was not long enough to be operated as a metro line, the section would open provisionally as a premetro (underground tram), with temporary low floor platforms and temporary ramps connecting the streets with the tunnel. Once the construction of the line is advanced, the premetro operation is cut and the line is converted into a full metro line, removing the ramps and elevating the platforms to metro standards. Currently lines 1, 2, 5 and 6 are fully metros and lines 3, 4 and 7 are premetros. The whole network has been built following the same plan. Transfer stations have a good design as well, with the notable exception of Dè Brouckère, where there is a long corridor. Cross-platform transfers can be found in Beekkant and Gare du Midi. Arts-Loi, Montgomery and Rogier have crossing interchanges. Most stations have side platforms located at level -2, whilst level -1 is reserved for mezzanines. Stations on line 6 have island platforms because trains run on the left side instead. Stations on lines 3/4 were built using the Spanish solution, where passengers board using the island platform (except in Gare du Midi). In order to reduce fare evasion, most stations have been equipped with turnstiles during the last decade, replacing the existing honor system which is still present in some stations due to the complexity of its layout.
Budapest Budapest was the first city in continental Europe to have a metro. Line 1 opened in 1896. Similar to other systems opened around 1900, tunnels have a narrow profile. Trains are only 2.60 m high and 30 m long. Lines 2 and 3 have a similar style to other Eastern European metros, despite the decoration has nothing to do. Line 4 was built recently. In these three lines, tracks are laid in two parallel tunnels that cross Budapest at a considerable depth. Stations have island platforms in two parallel galleries, which are connected with the ticket hall through a long escalator. The ticket hall can either be located at ground level or just underground. In the latter case, there are direct staircases connecting the hall with the tramway platforms or bus stops. The northernmost and southernmost parts of line 3, tracks run underground but at a very little depth. Here stations have side platforms, which are located at level -2 (and a mezzanine at level -1) or directly at level -1, together with an independent booking hall for each direction. Transfers differ, depending on the station. In Deák Ferenc Tér and Kálvin Tér, transfers consist in a quick connection through two escalators and a short corridor. In other stations, transfers may be longer since one line might be running close to the surface while the other may be running very underground (eg: Keleti pályaudvar, Batthyány tér)
Bucharest The Bucharest metro consists of 5 lines, despite lines M1 and M3 share their tracks and line M5 has two branches. The original plan from the 70s consisted of three lines: a east-west line (M3 and southern section of M1), a north-south line (M2) and a circle line circa 40 km long. Unlike other Eastern European metros, the Bucharest one was not built at a considerable depth but using cut-and-cover methods. The platforms are typically located at level -2 or -1 and tend to be central, despite some stations in line M1 have side platforms.
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