Moscow Metro - 80 years old

Moscow Metro is one of the world's most elaborate transport systems. And now, it enters its ninth decade of service. It first ran 80 years ago, commencing on May 15 1935.

On that day, the entire network only stretched to one line, seven miles and 11 stations, it was as much a tribute to the Soviet Union as a way of riding around the Russian capital. Stalin ordered the architects and artists behind the project's construction to create something which glorified this vast communist entity.
This idea - stations full of mosaics, statues and soaring arches - continues today.

But if the Moscow Metro is the world's most beautiful underground railway - and this is a point which can be debated - it also has photogenic rivals in cities as diverse as Paris, Stockholm and Buenos Aires.
Click here to see gallery.

 T-Centralen station forms the heart of Stockholm's metro network..