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Trouble, Danger and Near Misses on the Metro
By Liesa Tann As students travel, either on the school planned trips or independently, there is always the matter of how to get around cities. In most cases, the Metro, Underground, or Subway as some cities call it, is usually the most convenient and fastest way to visit the sites of the city. But some students have found it can be very expensive, if you don't take a minute to learn the rules of each city's rails. Emilee Shake, 21, a junior from Plainville, Ind., traveled independently over the long weekend with some friends to Athens. In Greece, the Metro functions by use of the honor system, she said. “You must buy a ticket for about €4 each way and then slide it in the machine to validate your ticket as you pass by to the platforms” said Shake of the Athens Metro system. In most cities, such as London, there is the option to buy Day Passes to travel on the Metro for a single day as many times as needed. This was not an option in Athens, so Shake decided to ignore the rules and did not validate her ticket, in order to save some money. This plan worked for Shake and her friends from Thursday morning to Friday night, when her clever way of saving money quickly turned into a crisis. As Shake's group walked down the escalator towards the Metro, she spotted a knot of people by the entrance to the platform. Six Metro security officers were checking the validation of everyone’s ticket. Knowing that their tickets were not validated, Shake and her friends attempted to run back up the escalator. But the security officers caught up to them and stopped them. Each person was asked to show identification, and everyone in Shake's group was issued a ticket and a fine of €48 per person. One of Shake's companions claimed to not have any identification or cash, but the security officers told them they would then escort them to jail if payment and identification were not produced immediately. The students frantically rummaged for cash and IDs and handed it over to the officers. Shake said she was lucky to have stopped at an ATM just before entering the Metro station. At the end of this ordeal, Shake said that the officers asked her group where they were headed and sent them on their way through to the metro -- without validated tickets. As Shake and her friends found out, Metro systems in different cities in Europe are not all the same. But as unfortunate as this incident was, Shake said that the experience “has brought us [group of students] closer together.” Almost as close as sharing a jail cell. |
Lesson learned. From left, Andy Kirk,
Alison Ward, and Emilee Shake validate their ticket in an Athens Metro station.