The Capitol Subway System, a network of trolleys in the fluorescent-lit bowels of the labyrinthine, 600-room US Congress in Washington, has been ferrying politicians back and forth for more than a century. In less querulous times, political leaders have seen the subway as something of a refuge from the frenetic pace of Washington politics. The alarm spread like a forest fire," the Washington Times reported at the time. Electric Studebaker automobiles were replaced by a monorail with its own track three years later and, in 1960, officials added four $75,000 electric subway cars -- dubbed "swift chariots of democracy" by the Senate chaplain. Some Capitol Hill staff see the gentility of subway interactions becoming rarer as health-conscious politicians with step-counting devices increasingly take to walking between buildings.

Source: Bangkok Post September 27, 2021 01:30 UTC