Spanish Subways
Friday, July 30th, 2004Back from my almost month abroad. I visited Spain and Morocco over the month of July and had a wonderful time. I’ll go on about my trip in other places, but for now let’s talk trains.
Experienced the extensive metro systems in Barcelona and Madrid. Both were quite nice. Nice trains, clean stations, very modern facilities. Much of my experiences were the same as New York, but a few things were different.
One difference was that you have to request that the door nearest you be open, either from the outside or the inside, by pulling up a little lever on the door. I can’t think what this would be for but to save air conditioning and wear and tear on the doors. This I found somewhat strange, but I suppose it’s us who are strange.
Another was that there were small places to lean against, almost like seats for someone who is standing up. This is quite nice and helps one maintain balance.
The best feature of all, though, was the opening up of the walls between cars, making the passage from car to car simple. Instead of a train of cars, it is more like a train with one long continuous car. This is a great feature that I wish we had here.
Oh, and there were fans in the stations that created a nice breeze, no less.
Security is less of a concern there, as one could hop right over the token collectors, contrary to the caged-in stations we have here. Of course, one must always carry one’s ticket as it’s illegal to ride the metro without a valid ticket and the police are prone to checking now and then. No token suckers there.
Overall, I was very impressed with the subways in these two cities, but relished the thought of getting back home. I do wish the subways here were a bit nicer and cooler, but autumn is right around the corner.
