The metro system in Caracas, Venezuela, ran out of the paper needed to print tickets, the Times of London reported Monday, leaving travelers to get onboard for free.
The Times of London reports that every ticket machine across the city’s metro system reads, “Out of Order,” while thousands of people enter the station through broken escalators onto overcrowded platforms. Demand for public transport has grown exponentially in recent months as people can no longer afford the cost of private transport such as cars and taxi ownership.
“For several weeks, the underground has been free,” the paper notes. “The reason is especially dystopian, even in this chaotic city: the state company managing it has run out of the paper needed to print tickets.”
The cost of buying a ticket of just 46,000 bolivares is equivalent to just a fraction of a cent. However, this costs equates to a sizeable portion of many Venezuelans monthly salary, which fluctuates between one and two dollars per month.
“It’s exhausting,” said Cynthia Hernández, 38, an administrator whose 17-station commute can now take up to three hours. On one occasion, she was forced to exit the train and walk through a darkened tunnel after a system-wide power cut.
“It has become really dangerous,” she continued. “And now we see beggars on the underground. This city was never like this before.”
The crisis in Venezuela’s metro system is just one of the many transportation problems created by Nicolás Maduro’s socialist regime, which is currently overseeing the worst economic collapse in the country’s history.
A report last month by Venezuela’s National Federation of Communal Councils and Communes revealed that around 90 percent of the country’s ground transportation is broken or out of service, caused by unaffordable maintenance costs of repairs and spare parts.
Coupled with a collapse in land transportation, many of the country’s largest airports and airlines are also struggling under the weight of the economic crisis. In recent years, dozens of prominent airlines have canceled flights to Venezuela due to a fall in demand and security fears as well as a deterioration in basic airport infrastructure.
However, the transport sector remains just one of the many collapsing industries in the aftermath of Hugo Chávez’s socialist revolution. Other public services including education, hospitals, and the vital oil sector are all experiencing an exodus of staff and a chronic lack of resources.
Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.