Cincinnati is home to the largest unused subway system in the world (2016)

203 点作者 respinal超过 4 年前

24 条评论

jgwil2超过 4 年前

> “It was a huge loss not to build it,” Koenig says, of the subway. “When you compare almost any city in Europe to a Midwestern car-centric city there is no comparison in the quality of life.”Ain't that the truth. It's very depressing to read about the history of transit in the States.

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kube-system超过 4 年前

> Several midwestern cities, including Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Detroit, passed bond issues so that construction could begin on subway systems that emulated the successful New York City one, which began running trains underground in 1904.> “Cincinnati was unique in that they were the only [Midwestern] city to actually begin working on the subway,”Not true. Pittsburgh not only started construction on theirs, but it went into service and still operates today. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_Light_Rail#/media/File:Steel_Plaza_Subway_Station.JPG" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_Light_Rail#/media/F...</a>

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lmilcin超过 4 年前

A whole article about "pristine" stations "waiting" for trains and passengers and not a single photo of actual inside.

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evilpie超过 4 年前

Youtube video of urban explorers in the subway tunnels: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY6A0_uxyvs" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY6A0_uxyvs</a>

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comonoid超过 4 年前

Omsk (Russia) cancelled subway length is 4.7 miles. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omsk_Metro" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omsk_Metro</a>This article claims Cincinnati subway is 2.2 miles.

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rmason超过 4 年前

Actually Detroit did start building its own subway in 1929, right before the great depression. There is no record of it on the Internet. No one in current city government knows a thing about it.My father remembers it being built, he would have been 13. A short stretch of tunnel and the beginnings of what would have been two stations.When I was in college in the seventies some urban explorers found an entrance. But the city managed to get it closed. The only story on it was an alt weekly, long since gone.One of these days I am going to spend some time in the Detroit library system and dig up proof and publish it on the web.

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spieswl超过 4 年前

Cool to see a weird piece of history from the hometown on HN. Many of those tunnels were used to run utilities and fiber so they still have usefulness, but it is sad to think about "what could have been" if many American cities had gone further with these kinds of projects.

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Tokkemon超过 4 年前

I'm sorry, but the Cincinnati metro authority is called SORTA?! (Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority)Talk about wearing your heart on your sleeve!

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mbreese超过 4 年前

While the subway would have been a nice addition to Cincinnati, it shouldn’t be forgotten that at the time, Cincinnati already had a working (and popular) above-ground streetcar. Some of these lines were originally cable car! So, it isn’t that the city completely neglected public transportation, but just didn’t complete the subway portion (in 1925).Sadly, the streetcar was eventually dismantled (1952), so you can still lament the lack of public transportation.I live near one of the old streetcar stops, and it would be great to still have that kind of access to downtown.<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Street_Railway" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Street_Railway</a><a href="https://www.wcpo.com/longform/a-city-built-by-streetcars-a-look-back-at-cincinnatis-street-railroads" rel="nofollow">https://www.wcpo.com/longform/a-city-built-by-streetcars-a-l...</a>

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EvanAnderson超过 4 年前

Sadly, tours are no longer available. There are some videos out there from "urban explorers" heading down into the tunnels. I got to tour the unfinished platform and part of the tunnel under Central Parkway back in the late 2000's. The water main running thru one of the tunnels is eerily imposing. There's a fair amount of fiber down there, too.

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lacker超过 4 年前

I grew up in Cincinnati, and this story seems strange to me, because getting around Cincinnati seems pretty easy, actually.It isn't just my opinion - statistics generally say that commute times in Cincinnati are lower than average for the US. <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/10/23/see-how-cincinnati-commute-times-compare-to-other.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/10/23/see-h...</a>And they are way better than European cities like London for example - <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=average+london+commute+times" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com/search?q=average+london+commute+times</a>Cities like San Francisco and Washington DC are worse for getting around, despite having better public transportation. It's faster to drive 20 miles in Cincinnati than to travel four miles from the Haight to SOMA in San Francisco. Sure, there is sometimes traffic in Cincinnati, but there just isn't as much as the more densely populated cities. I think so much of the population lives further out near I-275, it doesn't make as much sense to build public transportation there.

adingus超过 4 年前

Not one picture of the subway tunnels or platforms... disappointing.

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mberning超过 4 年前

It’s a bold assumption that, had it been finished, the subway would have been successful. This is the city that cannot run a simple street car successfully and has had multiple city council members charged with corruption in the last year. The main bridge connecting Cincinnati and NKY has been in need of replacement for a long time, and yet the can continues to be kicked down the road. We do not have a strong track record of building and maintaining infrastructure.

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AaronNewcomer超过 4 年前

Similar story in Cleveland too: <a href="https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2014/10/20/13-photos-of-clevelands-deserted-detroit-superior-underground-subway" rel="nofollow">https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2014/10/...</a>

sgustard超过 4 年前

This Verge article and photos are terrific as well.<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2016/8/10/12411632/public-transportation-failures-america-cincinnati-subway" rel="nofollow">https://www.theverge.com/2016/8/10/12411632/public-transport...</a>

Lammy超过 4 年前

It's interesting to see them aspire to "subway systems that emulated the successful New York City one, which began running trains underground in 1904" considering all the transit opposition you see these days using "Manhattanization" as a scare word.Sad to think of the probable cause for that negative change in the way transit is perceived by many voters: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Migration_(African_American)#First_Great_Migration_(1910-1940)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Migration_(African_Ameri...</a>

lumberingjack超过 4 年前

This is my hometown and I've been inside this system as early as 1999 and as late as 2008. Not much to look at inside there wet damp small tunnels every exit except the two or three concrete over. Huge water main down the center and huge fiber optic cables.

WorldMaker超过 4 年前

Another fun fact: revisiting subway proposals and possibly using the existing tunnels was a part of Cincinnati's sometimes derided failed 2012 Summer Olympics bid.(ETA: Mocking that Olympics bid was where I first learned of the unfinished subway system.)

fnord77超过 4 年前

stories like this make me want to leave the US and move to Europe.

arulpugazh超过 4 年前

2.2 miles is not really 'largest' isn't it

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brianjunyinchan超过 4 年前

Would it be possible to repurpose it for future infrastructure? Ie a delivery drone highway?

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wolco2超过 4 年前

In this day and age of covid are subways and mass transit really that safe / healthy?

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throwawgler87超过 4 年前

More photos please!

spodek超过 4 年前

> most of what stalled the progress of the subway happened above ground, in offices, where politicians made backroom deals and bold promises that rarely came to fruition . . . By the time the 1920s were in full swing, cost overruns, construction errors, property damage, and political finagling had shut down the Cincinnati subway for good.American exceptionalism!> in 2002 a proposal was put before voters for a half-cent tax increase that would fund a regional light rail system, which have used parts of the already-constructed tunnel system. Voters defeated the issueSigh. We never learn.