Thames missing

A map of the Tube comes in handy for today’s Geo Quiz. The map of London’s subway, known as The Tube or the Underground, is a classic.

Harry Beck 1933 London Undergound map, click for a large version

The visual design was inspired by electric circuit diagrams. The map helps riders navigate the system’s 270 subway stations.

Every once in a while, transportation officials update the map. Normally, nobody notices. But the newest map of the Underground leaves out the river that divides north and south London. Many Londoners are crying foul — they say the River Thames serves as a kind of compass point on the map.

We’ll hear more on that in just a few seconds. First — here’s your challenge. Can you name any OTHER major international city where the local subway map does NOT show a big river?

Paris and New Delhi DO. We want the names of cities that DON’T.

September 2009 Tube map

Marco: “Mark — put this into perspective for us internationally…we asked listeners to name any other cities whose transit maps leave out the major rivers….do you know any?”

Berlin, Madrid, Osaka, Bilbao, Beijing, Stockholm, Valencia, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Chicago.. The answers to our Geo Quiz.