Metro typing game: a free typing test on six real metro systems

A metro typing game turns a metro map into a typing drill. HelloSubway puts a real line on the screen and asks for the name of the next station. Type it correctly and the train runs to that station; type the whole line and you get your speed, accuracy and time on a ticket you can share. There are 84 lines and about 1,800 stations to type, across six cities: Seoul, New York, London, Paris, Tokyo and Singapore.

It is free, it runs in the browser, and you do not need an account. You only sign in if you want your runs saved and on the rankings.

A five-minute metro typing test

If you want one number for how fast you type, the fairest test in the game is Express mode. Every city has one: 60 seconds, stations drawn at random from the whole network, and the same 60 seconds for everyone. That makes Express results comparable between players in a way that long and short lines are not.

Here is a routine that takes about five minutes. Run Express once to warm up and ignore the score. Run it a second time and note your speed and accuracy. Then ride one short line from end to end, so you also see how you hold up when the names come in order rather than at random.

Speed in the game is counted in characters per minute. If you are used to words per minute, divide by five. The calculator below converts between the two and shows which train class a speed reaches in the game.

How keystrokes are counted, especially in Korean and Japanese, is explained in how typing speed is measured.

Which metro to start on

The cities feel very different under the fingers, mostly because of how long their names are. Averaged over every station, a Seoul name takes 7.5 keys, a Singapore name 9.8, Tokyo 11.1, London 11.8, Paris 13.8 and New York 16.1.

Seoul is the place for Korean typing practice: you type the station names in Hangul, and the lightest line, the Gimpo Goldline, is ten stations. The heaviest Seoul line is the Suin-Bundang Line, 63 stations. Tokyo is typed in romaji, the Latin spelling of Japanese, and the game accepts the common alternatives such as si for shi. Its lightest line is the Hanzomon Line, 14 stations; its heaviest is the Oedo Line, 38.

London's Victoria line, 16 stations, is the gentlest English-language start in the game. Singapore's North East Line, 17 stations, is close behind. In Paris, accents are optional: Chatelet counts for Châtelet. Line 3bis, four stations, is the shortest line in the whole game, and Line 8, 38 stations, is the heaviest Paris line. New York is the endurance test. Its shortest line by typing work is the Z, and the 2 train, 49 stations from the Bronx to Brooklyn, is the heaviest line in the game. The full ranking is in the easiest and hardest lines.

Metro typing for language learners

Station names are short, real words with a place behind them, which makes them good practice for a new keyboard layout. For Hangul, start with typing Korean station names; for Japanese romaji, typing Japanese station names; for French, typing Paris Métro names without accents. If you are going to one of these cities, typing a line before the trip is also a quick way to learn the stops in order.

Common questions

What is a metro typing game?

It is a typing game built on a metro map: each correct station name moves a train one stop along a real line. HelloSubway has 84 lines in Seoul, New York, London, Paris, Tokyo and Singapore, and it runs free in the browser.

Is there a free metro typing test online?

Yes. Express mode in any city is a 60-second test with stations drawn at random from the whole network, so everyone gets the same conditions. It is free and works without an account.

Which metro is easiest to type?

Seoul has the shortest names, 7.5 keys per station on average, typed in Hangul. Among the cities typed in Latin letters, Singapore is shortest at 9.8 keys per station, and New York is longest at 16.1.

Can I practise Korean or Japanese typing with metro station names?

Yes. Seoul's stations are typed in Hangul, which is good practice for the Korean 2-set keyboard, and Tokyo's are typed in romaji, the way most people type Japanese on a computer.