Metro Ride

Our last day in Mexico City we took a ride on the subway called: Sistemo de Transporte Collectivo Metro Ride. It was quite and experience. The system is fairly new built in 1969 and is the second largest train network in North America (after New York). It also has the 5th in greatest number of people transported. It is a rubber tired metro system, as you can see in the pictures. Each station we went to was crowded like one of the el stations after a White Sox game. Chicago could learn something from the organization of the Metro, the Mexican's really have it down. Each train ride costs 2 pesos which is the equilavent of about 14 cents with today's exchange rate. Each train is like the Metro in DC, they are all automated, except the catch in Mexico is that the doors are automated as well, so you have to quickly move in and out of the train. We learned this the hard way when getting on for the first time and having half our group stuck on the platform and the door closing on my back. Some Mexican teenagers find it cool to stick their feet in the doors and try to hold them open. Rather than have the train wait for people the people have to wait for the train which makes everything move more effieciently. If you've ever thought you've been packed into a train car, this was like ten times as bad as anything in Chicago. We were getting on, which everyone does in a mob so they can make it on the train before the doors closed. The train looked packed, I heard the doors closing sound and all of a sudden I felt a huge shove from the people behind me, the force pushing me on to the train. It was like everyone had to suck in for us to get on. It was pretty fun.

Here are the pictures I was able to snap without looking like a terrorist threat: http://picasaweb.google.com/peterbrown4/MetroRide#