762 RAPID-TRANSIT SUBWAYS IN METROPOLITAN CITIES. 



o])position chiefly upon aesthetic grounds. Several years later, after 

 a short experimental electric line had proved a success, the scheme 

 was again resurrected, electricity being the motive power. This 

 proposal met a fate similar to its predecessors and led to the con- 

 struction of the subway. In 1804 the concession was granted, and two 

 years later the line was opened to the public. No other project is at 

 present being considered ; the transportation problem is not so serious 

 as elsewhere, and the tramway system is very efficient, giving satis- 

 factory service. 



THE GLASGOW SUBWAY. 



The GlasgOAv subway was started several years before that in 

 Budapest, but being much larger in scope and more difficult to con- 

 struct, owing to the great amount of tunneling necessary, it was not 

 opened until the latter part of 1896. Even then it did not remain 

 open, for the traffic was so much heavier than anticipated that it was 

 necessary to close the line for a few weeks and improve the facilities 

 for handling crowds. 



The first definite project for an underground road culminated in 

 J 887, when a l)ill was introduced into Parliament to authorize such 

 an undertaking. The local authorities opposed it, because they 

 feared that tunnels under the Clyde would render any further deep- 

 ening of the river impossible and thus seriously interfere with the 

 commercial development of the city. However, in 1890, a bill was 

 passed; these objections did not seem of sufficient importance to 

 counterbalance the need for rapid transit. Short sections of the 

 steam roads, similar to those in London, had been operated for some 

 time below the surface, but they reached only a few suburban dis- 

 tricts. The new subway connects the business portions of the city 

 with the residential areas to the west and northwest. Its eastern 

 extremity is in the heart of the city, from whence the line makes a 

 broad swing to the west, some 7 miles in circumference. 



As yet there seems to be no competition between the subway and 

 the nninicipal street railways. .The latter do not reach many of the 

 suburbs served by the subway, and the long-distance traffic does not 

 use the surface lines because they are slower. Even with the pro- 

 posed extensions, there will be abundant traffic for each system. 



boston's subways. 



The Boston subway was opened in 1898. It is entirely unlike 

 every other line, not being a separate and distinct system, but merely 

 affording to the surface lines a means of reaching the business dis- 

 tricts without using the surface of the streets. Prior to its con- 

 struction the street car lines from the many suburban districts 

 around Boston all met on Huntington avenue, Tremont and Boylston 

 streets, or at Scollay square. Between Scollay square and the junc- 



