History of the Madrid Metro

The past two weeks I (Alisha) had the privilege of traveling through Spain on vacation. During my stay I got to experienced the country’s Metro system first hand, and let me tell you, Barcelona has one of the (if not, best) transit systems I’ve ever ridden. As a subway nerd (hence my job here at Underground Signs), I was geeking out over how awesome the Barcelona Metro subways were.

Here are some of my observations from riding the Barcelona Metro subway:

+ Metro entrances are clearly visible from the outside to pedestrians, tourists, and commuters alike. When walking along the street, look for the high-standing pole “M” in a red diamond above ground which signifies an entrance to the Metro station. These poles stick out amongst trees and parks, and are also clearly indicated on the city maps with the station name

+ It is clean! Like, really clean. And with that means no foul smells and no garbage laying around. Even though the Metro subways run underground, you don’t see any graffiti or smell the garbage or swelter in the heat. There are tons of garbage stations with designated bags for proper recycling and numerous sanitation workers constantly cleaning up any trash that may be left on the floor; plus there’s great ventilation to keep the stations inside cool

+ It is efficient due to reliable timetables, clarified instructions, and speedy arrivals and departures. Upon my first day of arrival I was able to follow the city subway map and learn my routes fairly quickly. Perhaps it was my New York navigational instincts to study transit lines, but it was also quite helpful to have each subway line’s route and transfer options laid out in front of me wherever I walked through a station. The timetables worked perfectly at every station, marking a countdown to the next train’s arrival. Bonus points: I never had to wait more than 3mins for a subway to arrive

+ There are infinite transfer options. Unlike here in New York City where transfers to other subway lines can get tricky, in Barcelona it didn’t matter what stop you were at, you weren’t far from another line to get you to a different part of town. Plus the transfer instructions were easy to read and find, and all within the same pathway so you couldn’t get lost, and of course transfers are free

+ You have available reception on the subway. Again, unlike here in New York City, you are able to use your phone when on the Metro. Though you’re underground, there is available connection for people to make phone calls or send text messages, which was something to be jealous of

+ Costs are cheap and ticket options are abundant. Single passes are 1,40EU each but locals will tell you to purchase a T-10 (or 10 trip pass) that will give you 10 journeys for less than 8EU and can last you a few days. I used my 10 trip pass for all 4 days I was in Barcelona and managed to ride just about every line and travel to every part of the city which was great

Overall, I feel the MTA could learn a thing or two from the Barcelona Metro to make their own improvements to New York City transit. You can read more about the Metro in Barcelona and other cities here.

What other transit systems have you favored when traveling?

Following in the footsteps of the Tumblr Staff, we just wanted to take a quick moment and give a shout out to a few really cool subway blogs we’ve been enjoying lately:

Public Transit Magic - entertaining stories of people’s experiences on public transit systems

On The Subway - they answer one simple question: “What are they listening to on the subway?”

Fuck Yeah Subways - someone else gets our fascination with this form of mass transit

We’re always in search of great subway related blogs on here, so if you know of any, let us know. In the mean time, keep tumbling!

We came across this article today that examines how underground subway design, riders, and transportation impact the culture of a city.

A train travels through 125th Street station of the New York City Subway. Opened in October 1902, the subway now carries more passengers than all other mass-transit rail systems in the US combined.

The article points out how various subway systems around the globe symbolize a city’s nature (i.e. pace of life and work) and role amongst society. Here are some interesting facts:

- The Underground has become a part of London’s mythology, a symbol of its resilience. It served as a shelter from the Blitz but also as a catacomb for victims of the 7/7 bombings and, in that dual role as womb and tomb, it finds its unique blend of familiarity, ennui and claustrophobia.

- At its best, a metro offers a city a subterranean subconscious, a mirror image of itself. Hector Guimard’s sinuously organic Art Nouveau ironwork for the Paris Métro announces the presence of a station – art runs through the city’s veins – and the artist’s sign has become the symbol of the city itself, as have London’s roundels.

- From Shanghai to Dubai, cities are only allowed to become real once they have dug deep enough within themselves to make themselves truly metropolitan.

You can read the full article here.