The Anonymous Widower

Exploring Metrovalencia

Metrovalencia is a Metro, that uses both trains and trams with a proportion of the network in tunnels.

I took these pictures.

It is in many ways, a typical modern Metro with good and sometimes spectacular architecture, spacious, clear trains and a ticketing system, that relies on a plastic card.

To my mind there are two major problems.

It Doesn’t Go To The City Of Arts And Sciences

The City of Arts and Sciences, is a place that many tourists want to see.

But the Metrovalencia doesn’t go there and I couldn’t find how to get there from the information at various stations.

It would be as if the London Underground didn’t go to Stratford or the Manchester Metrolink didn’t go to Salford Quays.

Finding Stations Is Difficult

Valencia doesn’t have a way-finding system and finding the stations of the Metro can be difficult. Unlike say Berlin, Bilbao, London, Stockholm and many other cities, where stations have a big logo or feature, you can see from a couple of hundred metres, you can walk past stations without seeing them.

I walked a lot farther than I intended to.

The map I had was one that came with my good value 48-hour travel card, which cost eighteen euros.

It wasn’t the easiest to understand, as there was no symbols for Metro stations on the map.

The Citylink Trains Of The Metrovalencia

The Citylink trains of the Metrovalencia were built in Valencia in 2007 and are very different to their cousins; the tram-trains of Karlsruhe and Sheffield.

Sheffield is in blue, Karlsruhe in yellow and Valencia in white.

They are metre gauge, have larger bodies, are four or five cars long and I didn’t find one working as a tram-train.

 

June 15, 2018 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , | Leave a comment

Premium Passport Control At Gatwick

By getting lost, I came across Premium Passport Control At Gatwick.

I’d already noticed the lengths of the queues for passport control, so by paying a fiver on my contactless card, I virtually walked at a brisk pace through passport control and security.

I shall certainly book it on my next flights through the airport.

Some will argue that everybody should get this level of service, but as the Gatwick web site says, the service is limited to fifty passengers per hour, just think how big, an area would be needed for the thousands of passengers per hour handled by the airport.

For me though, the service is ideal.

  • At seventy with a few health issues, standing in queues is a pastime I avoid.
  • As a coeliac, I often find food on board a flight is questionable to say the least, so having more time for perhaps something before I fly is an advantage.
  • I can afford the cost!
  • I like to time things as fast as possible.

I would improve the service in two ways.

A Yearly Pass

I do about ten flights a year out of the UK. If for say thirty pounds I could get Premium Passport Control both Outbound and Inbound, I would always fly through Gatwick, as it has flights to where I want to go.

A Duty Free By-Pass

I never buy any traditional duty-free products, although I might buy something in airport shops, like newspapers, snacks or toiletries.

So I would have an optional route straight into the main departure area, by-passing the slow lane through dDuty Free.

Conclusion

I think this will get better!

June 15, 2018 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , | 1 Comment