Mr Ling, whose job includes loitering in public places for observation, watched a woman at an Oslo underground station who texted as she walked.

ECONOMIST: Kith and kin get closer, with consequences for strangers

It also has an underground retail and restaurant area where direct access to the Otemachi subway station will open in 2013.

BBC: Openings: Tokyo, Bangkok, Sweden, Boston

Robin Moulna, 38, a manager at a fast-food restaurant, was surprised to receive a call from his brother while waiting for an F train in the Rockefeller Center subway station, two levels underground.

WSJ: Subway Wireless Options Increase

In Brixton, a south London neighbourhood, an open-air cannabis market exists within ten minutes' walk of the underground station.

ECONOMIST: Cannabis

The ride was surreal and very sad, with people glued to portable radios and then, when we exited the underground portion of the trip from Grand Central Station, we witnessed an unobstructed view on this bright sunny day of the tremendous smoke billowing from the site of the towers.

FORBES: A Very Personal Remembrance From 9/11