Love and Carriage: Why Muscovites use metro to find a mate
Published 21 June, 2008, 05:02
A growing number of Muscovites are meeting their soulmates on the city’s underground metro. Research into behaviour on the subway suggests it is easier to make friends, or even find a life partner, on a train.
With seven million passengers a day, Moscow’s metro is becoming the place to find a mate. You can get to any station you want for just 19 roubles – less than a dollar – which is not a lot of money for a chance to find something that many people would consider priceless.
Romance, excitement and love – it’s hard to imagine you can find all that in the crowded trains. However, Masha and Denis’s relationship flourished in this subterranean world when they met there two years ago.
“I was on my way to a Yoga class but got stuck in traffic so I parked my car and took a metro. I jumped into a train and there she was. Our eyes met not once. Masha left the train and I followed her,” Denis recalls.
Experts say the metro is a perfect place for a romantic encounter, as people spend quite a lot of their time there.
“It’s easy to meet somebody on the Metro. There are more people within your reach. And that makes it easier to start a conversation,” Boris Novoderzhkin, a love expert says.
But what if you're too shy to speak to someone you like on the train? What if the crowd swallows them up leaving no clues?
Then there’s the internet. You can leave a message on a special website (in a livejournal community) for those who’ve seen their love in the subway but were not brave enough to come and chat or ask for a phone number.
Ludmila, who lost her prince charming in the hustle and bustle, hopes internet messaging will work for her. Still she optimistically rides the metro every day wishing fate will give her another chance.
“I’m not too shy. So I’d definitely come up and talk to him if I see him again. But to tell you the truth I’d rather see him show some initiative,” she says.
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