# Shortest subway ride? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 3, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242 "2014-12-03T18:15:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/1 "2014-12-03T18:15:17Z")
In any subway system, what two stations, on the same line, are the closest together, by distance? On the DC Metro system, Metro Center and Gallery Place/Chinatown are just three blocks apart, about 1/3 mile, or 1600 feet. From either station platform you can look down the tunnel and see people standing on the platform at the other station. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/2 "2014-12-03T18:23:58Z")
Too late to edit: note, 1600 feet is the distance from subway entrance to subway entrance at the street level; the tunnel itself from one station to the next is only about 800 feet. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/3 "2014-12-03T18:41:22Z")
NYTimes: By MICHAEL POLLAK Published: August 30, 2008🙂 According to Glenn Lunden, director of rail systems planning for New York City Transit […] “There are several pairs of stations that are a very short distance apart — slightly over two-tenths of a mile,” Mr. Lunden continued in an e-mail message. “They are: Bowling Green and Wall Street on the 4 and 5, Wall Street and Fulton Street on the 2 and 3, and Park Place and Chambers Street on the 2 and 3.” But Antonio Cabrera, assistant chief officer for track engineering, said that the shortest distance is actually between Beverley Road and Cortelyou Road on the Brighton line B and Q — slightly less than 500 feet. (Ron Schweiger, Brooklyn borough historian, said that those two stations preceded the subway lines, and served a grade-level steam railroad, the Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railroad.) ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/4 "2014-12-03T18:59:01Z")
On the London Underground, the shortest distance is between [Covent Garden and Leicester Square](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covent_Garden_tube_station#Proximity_to_Leicester_Square), on the Piccadilly Line. [QUOTE=Wiki] The journey between Leicester Square station and Covent Garden takes only about 20 seconds, and measures only 260 metres (0.161 miles), the shortest distance between two adjacent stations on the Underground network. The stations are so close that a pedestrian standing halfway between them on Long Acre can see both tube stations by turning around 180°. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/5 "2014-12-03T19:07:57Z")
Are you going to exclude people movers in large buildings, and things like the [Capitol Subway System](http://www.belowthecapital.org/capitol/)? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/6 "2014-12-03T19:10:34Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > Are you going to exclude people movers in large buildings, and things like the [Capitol Subway System](http://www.belowthecapital.org/capitol/)? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/7 "2014-12-03T19:17:26Z")
There’s less than 1000 feet between the Monroe station and the Jackson station on the Chicago red line. You can actually walk from one platform to the other underground. Before the Washington station closed it was around 600 feet from the Lake station. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/8 "2014-12-03T19:25:23Z")
In Chicago, both the Red Line and the Blue Line have stops at Monroe St. and at Jackson St. Monroe and Jackson run parallel to each other, separated by only two blocks (about 900 feet, or 280 meters.) This is a bit of a cheat, though, since the passenger platform is continuous between these two stations. The trains still stop at each location along the platform, so it’s technically two stops; but it can be debated whether they are separate “stations”. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/9 "2014-12-03T19:38:39Z")
The downtown stations of Nationaltheatret, Stortinget, Jernbanetorget and Grønland in Oslo are .7, .5 and .5 km apart. So beaten by London. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/10 "2014-12-03T19:55:11Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > But Antonio Cabrera, assistant chief officer for track engineering, said that the shortest distance is actually between Beverley Road and Cortelyou Road on the Brighton line B and Q — slightly less than 500 feet. That was going to be my vote. Brighton Line FTW. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/11 "2014-12-03T20:10:25Z")
A lot of the stops on Boston’s T near downtown are so close, you have to wonder why there are separate stops. Downtown Crossing and Park Street are a block apart on the red line. > [@](#): > > The Park Street kiosk and the Downtown Crossing station entrance are only about 600 feet apart In fact, the stations are actually connected underground – you can WALK from one to the other, and damn the trains. Park Street and Boylston on the Green line aren’t much farther apart: > [@](#): > > The Park Street kiosk is visible up Tremont Street, steps away from the Boylston kiosk. They’re 1,500 feet apart, a walk of less than six minutes. Pick a new song on your iPod, and you’re halfway there. [http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/10/18/10\_boston\_subway\_rides\_you\_should\_consider\_skipping/](http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/10/18/10_boston_subway_rides_you_should_consider_skipping/) ---
**Author:** ![Celidin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Celidin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celidin)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/12 "2014-12-03T20:11:28Z")
Three stops on the Philadelphia PATCO line (formerly known as the Locust St Subway) are within 5 blocks: 9th-10th & Locust 12th-13th & Locust 15th & 16th & Locust Google Maps: [https://goo.gl/maps/CJsQ0](https://goo.gl/maps/CJsQ0) PATCO’s “Street Level Access” map showing the stairs - [http://www.ridepatco.org/stations/9th\_access.html](http://www.ridepatco.org/stations/9th_access.html) You can’t see from one to the other because there’s a slight elevation change in the tracks. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/13 "2014-12-03T20:35:36Z")
It’s not underground, but the Expo Line in L.A. has two stations that are a little over 1000’ apart: \*\*Vermont \*\*and **Expo Park/USC**. The **Downtown Long Beach** and **1st Street** stations on the Blue Line are also about that far apart. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/14 "2014-12-04T02:02:43Z")
There are a couple of stretches on the St. Louis Metrolink system where the stops are about 1,200’ or so apart. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/15 "2014-12-04T03:18:32Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > 1600 feet is the distance from subway entrance to subway entrance at the street level… If that’s what we’re going by, on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya line, [Exit A1 of the Hibiya station and Exit C1 of the Ginza station are about 120 ft apart.](https://www.google.com/maps/@35.6730114,139.7618571,18z) ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/16 "2014-12-04T04:11:34Z")
Don’t have the measurements, but Yonge to Bay stations or St. George to Spadina on the Toronto Bloor line looks to be pretty short, less than 200m. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/17 "2014-12-04T06:45:28Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Don’t have the measurements, but Yonge to Bay stations or St. George to Spadina on the Toronto Bloor line looks to be pretty short, less than 200m. Yonge to Bay is extremely short. I don’t know the distance, but 200 m sounds about right. When I was a student at U of Toronto, I used to walk from St. George to Yonge, bypassing both St. George and Bay stations (I needed a Yonge train), as it was usually faster than waiting for Bloor trains and connecting at Yonge. In Toronto, Queen to King is pretty short too. It’s three blocks–I could probably walk the distance on the surface in the time it takes me to walk down to Queen, pay my fare, wait for a train, and ride it to King. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/18 "2014-12-04T14:14:45Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > If that’s what we’re going by, on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya line, [Exit A1 of the Hibiya station and Exit C1 of the Ginza station are about 120 ft apart.](https://www.google.com/maps/@35.6730114,139.7618571,18z) They’re not on the same track. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/19 "2014-12-04T17:27:26Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > They’re not on the same track. Both are on the Hibiya line, which is the dashed line running NW-SE. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242/20 "2014-12-04T17:30:14Z")
Touche. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-subway-ride/706242.md?page=2)