Santiago Metro vs. NYC Subway

This past summer I spent working and living in New York City. It was truly a dream come true and I loved every minute of it, the bright lights, the city noises, the people, my job, the food, everything. Upon living there for three months, I became one of those New York people everyone hates…you know, the one who thinks New York City is superior to any other city in the world and that everything else just pales in comparison. Obnoxious to say the least, but what can I say, I’m a city gal. So wherever I am, be that Chicago, Madison, Milwaukee, Minneapolis…or Santiago, I will forever compare it to New York. More than likely, this will not be the first entry in which Santiago is put to the test of the New York City standards.

Like New York, Santiago has a subway system, known here as the Metro. And like New York, I’ve been using the Metro to get pretty much anywhere I need to be. Before I took my first ride on the Metro, I pictured the underground stations to be dungy and smelly, much like the ones in New York. However, unlike New York, and to my pleasant surprise, they are remarkably nice, impeccably clean, and best of all, lack that those lingering smells of urine and body odor that so loiter among the stops in the city that doesn't sleep. Sure the Metro trains get pretty packed during peak hours, but if you’ve ever rode the 6 subway line during times when people are going to and from work, it isn’t a whole lot different; people are just packed into the trains like sardines in a can.

The only downfalls with the Metro here is that one, it does not run 24 hours a day like the subway in New York. And two, from what I hear, it does not have air conditioning for those hot summer months.

Regardless, the Metro, in my mind, far surpasses that of the subway system in New York. Yes, I, the girl who just stated that nothing would ever compare to NYC, is telling you that Santiago is outdoing New York on this matter. Even the system of payment to get onto the metro in which you flash your card over some sort of card reading device seems more efficient than NYC’s subway pass swipe machine that works only some of the time, and other times, forces you to swipe over and over before it can even register your card, let alone get you to your train on time.

While I may change my mind as summer quickly approaches here and I find myself drenched in sweat riding a hot, packed, un-air conditioned Metro, for now the score is in…Santiago: 1 NYC: 0.