When I go away on holiday, I always like to try out different types of public transport to see how they differ between countries. Public transport is normally a lot cheaper than taxis and it's fun to seen how I can cope without understanding the local language and culture. My latest little adventure was a tram ride in Tenerife, Spain, and my destination was to a place called La Laguna about 50 minutes away from Tenerife city center.
Tranvía de Tenerife
The tram network in Tenerife consists of two lines, Line 1 and Line 2. I took the red line, Line 1 which starts from the Tenerife city center - Santa Cruz on the right, ending at La Trinidad on the left. That's where La Laguna is. The route is 12.5km, goes uphill ascending over 500 meters, passing through 21 stops, intersects with the highway, and takes a sharp turn at a funky stop called Taco. I'll show you all this in a minute.
Source
Tickets
Let me show you the ticket machines first. They can be found on the platform on all the stops. It has English language, so buying the ticket was easy. The ticket cost Euro 1.35 per journey, and I think cheaper if you use a mobile app or buy the ticket in bundles. Anyway, even at Euro 1.35 it's an absolute bargain compared to the cost of public transport in UK which is ridiculously expensive.
You can buy multiple rides at the same time and it goes on the same paper ticket. That's handy for us as we knew we'd be catching the tram for our return journey.
Ticket validation
Here's the inside of the tram, behind the driver. Originally we didn't realise we have to validate the ticket once we got on the tram. You tap your ticket against those little red machines on either side of the entrance. I bought two rides on my ticket, and it deducted one ride. If your ticket has no valid rides, it will give you a warning message. The validation is done on a honesty basis, and we were on the tram for about 10 minutes before we realised we had to do it. During those 10 minutes, the driver never intervened. You might think you can get a free ride by not validating your ticket (which of course never knowingly crossed our minds), but on our return journey, staff hopped on and off the tram doing random ticket checks. With Euro 400 penalty it definitely isn't worth it taking a free ride!!
Inside the tram
The Tenerife tram service has been running for 12 years, and I'm very impressive with the inside of the carriages which still look pretty new. The large windows extend all the way down to the seat level allowing plenty of light to flush inside. It will be a pity to block the sun given its abundance in Tenerife. The seats, on the other hand were a little on the narrow side. At one stage I was sitting next to another guy and we were pretty close. Given Covid and social distancing, it was a little too cosy for me.
Outside the tram
The 50 minute tram ride provided plenty of opportunity to see parts of Tenerife beyond the main tourist locations. As we left the city centre, and travelled up hill, the sea gradually disappeared. We were leaving the more modern and busier part of the island towards the more local area, less ventured by the masses of one day tourists like myself.
It's always interesting to see what place looks like beyond the tourist locations, and this tram journey certainly didn't disappoint.
What struck me most was the track itself. On all the trams I've been on in other countries, the track is laid in the middle of the concrete road. That's no different here. What does differ is the greenery by the track. I think this is a brilliant idea as one, it makes the tram track stand out from the normal traffic making it safer for drivers, and second, what's not to love about a 12.5km strip of green grass running through the island?
About half way into my tram journey, we arrive at Taco. This is where the route takes a sharp turn. I noticed a big graffiti of the name of the area on the wall by the station, and got the feeling this might be a fun and funky area. Of course I never got to find out.
Oncoming trams and intersections
The trams run very frequent and I think I must have saw about three or four oncoming trams during my journey. Due to the terrain, some parts are quite bendy, particularly around Taco and when there are trams coming towards us it feels like it's really coming at us. It felt that close!!
And then there were some parts the tram route intersect with the highway so we had to go under it like under a tunnel. That seemed to bring the two trams much closer again.
Waiting
Finally, here's some random photos of passengers waiting for the tram. Random, because that's how life is.
Adiós!