Sleep-friendly public transport across the globe

The ease of commuting to and from points A to B can change drastically from day to day. With public transit running smoothly some days and unexpected delays the next, it can be stressful for passengers across the globe. But are certain metro rail systems less stressful to travel on than others?

We’ve uncovered the most – and least – sleep-friendly metro rail systems internationally based on a variety of factors, such as number of stations, busiest lines, on-time operation, accessibility to air conditioning within stations and cars, bathroom accessibility, cleanliness, WiFi availability, city quality of life, and more to find out which metro rail systems offer the highest level of comfortability when it comes to relaxation before commuting or traveling to a new part of the city.

Sticking to a set bedtime during the week is easier said than done when all of life’s demands get in the way, and plenty of us need to be up and at ‘em at early hours. Relying on public transport to commute can be quite stressful, so we identified and ranked the most sleep-friendly metro systems globally to help you relax before a busy work day.

On the flip side, some metro systems offer little amenities for passengers to sit down and relax while whizzing down the tracks. Here are the least sleep-friendly metro systems:

The Turin Metro in Italy comes in as the No. 1 least sleep-friendly metro system globally, servicing 23 stations and offering passengers no air conditioning within stations and cars, no WiFi access, and no bathroom access according to our research. Additionally, each car is only able to seat 25, so weary passengers looking to take a seat and rest their legs have slim chances of doing so on the Turin Metro. 

Georgia’s Tbilisi Metro ranks as the second least sleep-friendly metro system. Similarly to the Turin Metro, it also services 23 stations and fails to offer passengers any air conditioning, WiFi, or bathrooms while traveling to and fro. However, each car does have more than double the amount of seating compared to the Turin Metro. 

Heading back to Italy, the Rome Metro rounds out the list of the top three least sleep-friendly metro systems globally. This metro services 73 stations and though it doesn’t offer passengers air conditioning within stations and cars, it does offer bathroom access and a seating capacity of 60 for tired passengers to take a rest. Overall, neither of these metro systems would be ideal to sleep on.

Of the New York City Subway’s 23 lines, our research revealed which is the best line across the entire Subway system. While many of the factors such as air conditioning availability, WiFi access, bathroom access, customer satisfaction rates, and cleanliness rates remained the same – we took a close look at on-time operation and annual ridership to determine which lines come out on top.

Through our analysis, we found that the Q train is the best subway line. With an on-time operation rate of 96.1% and 195.8 million passengers hopping on and off this line at 29 stations per year, the 2nd Avenue/Broadway Express line cements its #1 spot. 

The S 42 St, Franklin Ave, and Rockaway Park Shuttles come in as the second-best Subway line. Servicing 11 stations and 92.3 million passengers every year, the shuttle service has an on-time operation of 92.6%. 

Following in third place for best NYC Subway line is the 1 train. The Broadway-7 Avenue local line services 38 stations and 112.2 million passengers each year with an on-time operation of 95.8%. 

With the NYC Subway system servicing millions of New Yorkers and tourists every year, this ranking is sure to cause a bit of discourse among riders!

The District line has come out as the #1 Underground line. This line services 60 stations, making it the line with the most stations along its route. 251.2 million passengers ride this line yearly, and with customer satisfaction and on-time operation rates of 85% and 92.74%, it’s easy to see why its earned the top spot. 

Following in second place is the Metropolitan line, servicing 34 stations across the city. This line sees 93.4 million passengers rushing in and out of its doors yearly and has a customer satisfaction and on-time operation rates of 84% and 90.56%. 

Finally, taking the third place spot is the Circle line, which services 36 stations around the city. A whopping 141.6 passengers ride this Tube line yearly and it has customer satisfaction and on-time operation rates of 85% and 91.64%, respectively.

Whether commuting to and from work, spending a long day exploring a new city, or maybe even playing tourist in your own — it’s important that you’re getting a good night’s rest each night. If you find yourself nodding off more than usual while weaving through your local metro system’s tunnels, check out our  at home sleep apnea test  to start your healthy sleep journey.

We analyzed 65 metro stations across the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Europe. We looked at various metrics including air conditioning on trains and stations, number of stations, amount of on-train seating, operating hours, on-time service operation, lines with the highest annual ridership, customer satisfaction, bathrooms at the station, cleanliness, elevator accessibility, WiFi availability, and city quality of life. Using these metrics we created a weighted rank to identify the top sleep-friendly metro stations. Link to all sources . Data accurate as of October 7, 2024.