Thursday, November 19, 2009

Name of mass transit systems

Here are some of the common names:
London - Tube
New York - Subway
Paris - Metro
Singapore - MRT

I find the names used in London, New York and Paris to be quite convenient. It is easy to refer to a station by the name Tube, Subway, Metro rather than MRT station.

Maybe some creative person can find a one-syllable, easily pronounced name for MRT. How about Mart or Rapid?

4 comments:

  1. For me, I use the word "train" when I refer MRT to my foreign friends.

    "MRT" is already etched into singaporean tongue, hard to change.

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  2. in the 1990s, my friends would simply pronounce "Mert" for MRT as if there were an 'e' in btw.

    BH Goh

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  3. My friend suggested, when the MRT was first build, to have the name SMART - Singapore MRT.

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  4. In my travels, I think "to take the Met" is the simplest and understable single-syllable term for mass rapid transport trains.

    Metro is actually short for Metropolitan, i.e. servicing an area around the the city as a centre. It's used in Montreal and Washington DC. The "Met" is further shortened.

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