Metro systems not open to the general public

November 14, 2015 1:46 PM

Are there metro systems not open to the general public? I know of Moscow's rumoured Metro-2, but are there others, either for military or civilian purposes, that are not part of a city's public transit system? I'd also be interested to know of rumoured systems, or any fictional systems described in great detail.
posted by Harald74 to Travel & Transportation (13 answers total)

Best answer: There's one in Washington DC.
posted by sammyo at 1:53 PM on November 14, 2015 [11 favorites]

Best answer: Since it was for post rather than people, would the London Post Office Railway count?
posted by Vortisaur at 1:56 PM on November 14, 2015 [3 favorites]

Tourists are generally only allowed to see six stations of the Pyongyang Metro, although there is a special public transit tour on occasion that allows travel to almost all the stations.
posted by SisterHavana at 1:56 PM on November 14, 2015

Best answer: A lot of airport people-movers are past security (and thus not open to the general public), and essentially function as small-scale metros.
posted by threeants at 1:59 PM on November 14, 2015

There are also stops on the regular old Washington DC Metro that the general public cannot stop at. If you work for Metro and you are on the red line, you can radio the train conductor and request to be dropped off at the Brentwood shop, which is the oldest DC Metro rail yard and located just after the Brentwood/Rhode Island Avenue station ("after" in the Glenmont direction). The train will then stop at the railyard and open just the doors on your train car so you can get off.
posted by chainsofreedom at 2:14 PM on November 14, 2015 [4 favorites]

There's always Berlin, where they came up with the concept of "ghost stations."
posted by SMPA at 2:21 PM on November 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

The Duke Hospital People Mover was semi-public, but mostly used by employees.
posted by hydropsyche at 2:25 PM on November 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Cargo services are interesting too, yes, thank you Vortisaur.
posted by Harald74 at 2:43 PM on November 14, 2015

Best answer: Somewhat interestingly, the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City used to have a train platform to allow VIPs to enter the hotel in privacy.

Also, Chicago has the Chicago Tunnel Company, which actually inspired the London Post Office Railway.
posted by saeculorum at 2:45 PM on November 14, 2015

School buses? (Private or public. Some universities have them too.)
posted by Violet Hour at 3:00 PM on November 14, 2015

Best answer: I'm not sure what you consider to be a Metro but there are lots of underground railways used in mining for the transportation of personnel or material. Some are even Monorails.
posted by Mitheral at 3:51 PM on November 14, 2015

Would the Disneyland Monorail count? (You have to have a paid ticket or pass to Disneyland in order to ride.)
posted by SisterHavana at 10:04 PM on November 14, 2015

Response by poster: Thank you for your replies, people! I thought (still think) a metro system is underground, but English is my second language so I might be off there.
posted by Harald74 at 12:17 AM on November 17, 2015