It’s never good when Boston compares itself to major-league cities, especially in the rapid-transit category.

But here comes the Boston Globe’s Derrick Jackson bragging on the MBTA’s planned Night Owl experiment in his op-ed column yesterday.

The T’s chance to one-up the Tube

LAST MONTH, London Mayor Boris Johnson proudly proclaimed that 24-hour weekend subway service in 2015 “will further cement London’s reputation as the best big city on the planet.”

Ahem. Sorry Boris. Like the British of old, you may have fired a first shot. But our T just trumped your Tube. We’re piloting wee-hour weekend service next spring . . .

Other than New York or Chicago, the frequency of American cities one-upping European public transit falls somewhere between Halley’s comet and a pope retiring. But when T trains roll through downtown until 3 a.m., Boston will have later weekend subways than London, Paris, and Rome.

Talk about cementing your own reputation. This nearly puts us in the same league as Hamburg, Stockholm, and Barcelona, which have all-night weekend service.

The operative terms being “piloting” and “nearly.”

New Boston slogan: We’re nearly Hamburg!

Seriously?

Let’s face it: Whatever hours it runs, the T is like somebody’s hobby.  (You can find Exhibit Umpteen here.) At its best it’s public transit rather than rapid transit.

Regardless, six-two-and-even the Night Owl goes down like the Hindenburg.