New York: Journey to the centre of the earth...

Although Jules Verne's 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' remains a work of fiction, the nearest you can get to subterranean travel is the New York City subway. With 468 stations and over 1000km of line, this is an underground world in itself. New York is the blueprint of the modern metropolis?a city filled with dreams, desires and drama. New York also invented the concept of the 'underworld'. The subway is not only filled with commuters on their way to and from work, but also with those who were let down by the American dream: the homeless, the beggars, buskers and addicts; the people the 'system' forgot or chose to ignore. The subway is a haven for misfits, and has its own unique history and culture.

On the one hand, the subway is the fastest and cheapest form of transportation. On the other, it is the 'home' of many homeless people. The socio-psychological pressure to be successful in this city is too much for some people to bear. They retreat into themselves, and sometimes under the ground. Their aimless travels on the trains reflect the fact that they have lost their path in life.

Number 7

Every door leads to another world in the subway. If you take the 7, the line starts in Flushing at Chinatown, then heads via the Latin, Greek, Jamaican, Croatian and even newly-forming Turkish neighbourhood in Sunnyside before reaching Times Square. The F train takes you via the touristic Chinatown and the Italian neighbourhood to the Jewish neighbourhood in Brooklyn, as well as to 'Little Odessa', the Russian area. Your journey may well be accompanied by the sounds of busking jazz musicians.

'Rush hour'
As fascinating as 'rush hour' is to tourists, it is the bane New Yorkers' lives. The crush and the crowds are unimaginable. For most New Yorkers, the subway is their only mode of transport. You can get to all the bus and train stations as well as airports via the subway. In a country where the automobile reigns supreme, the New York subway is a rare exception to the rule.
In the last quarter of the last century, some companies chose to leave New York as they found the city uneconomic and full of transportation problems. After September 11, the situation got worse as the subway routes to the city's financial heart were also cut off.

'9/11'
Except for the Civil War and the attack on Pearl Harbour, the US has never had war on its own land. So 9/11 came as a huge shock to the nation. New Yorkers are still suffering from the psychological and economic effects, making the city twice as stressful as it was. It seems likely that the sense of shock and alienation will last a long time. Some even say that the subway seems slower since 9/11.