The underground stations have a minimalist, spacious design, featuring polished grey granite slab tiles speckled with black on the floors and walls. There are 3 levels in every station with wide-open concourses accessed from escalators starting at street level where you are greeted with a welcomed blast of air-conditioning.

The fare system involves black plastic tokens purchased from attendants behind glassed-in areas (there may be machines added later when ridership increases) which are touched to a pad on the turnstiles that activates their opening and which allow your departure when deposited into the turnstiles when exiting.

Train level is the narrowest of the 3 with only about 15-20 metres separating the trains running in opposite directions without a dividing barrier like in some systems. There are however sliding glass doors between the trains and the platform to increase safety such as in many operations in Europe.

The trains themselves are fast with seemingly about a one-minute duration between most stations. Plenty of head-space for travellers from foreign countries and rows of seats running lengthways so that if you do snag a seat you will be facing the person across from you. I approve of this choice as the odds are good that a Thai tart in a short skirt will be sitting on the opposite side.

However, with the 7 years involved in building the system and the countless billions spent it is a shame that they couldn't have simply asked a native-speaker to proofread the (still welcomed) English signs...

"When the door closing warning sounds do not charging the doors."

Originally appeared on Pistonhips

© Copyright Lenny Finkleman 2004.