Describe a time when you travelled on a crowded bus, train or metro

I'd like to describe a journey I made last winter on the Moscow metro during the evening rush hour. I was visiting a friend for a few days, and we had planned to meet some other people in the centre at six. Unfortunately, I didn't realise that this was the busiest time of the day.

When I reached the platform, it was already full of people, and I could see that the trains were arriving packed. The first train came, and almost nobody could get on. The second was the same. On the third, I was literally pushed inside by the crowd behind me. There was no space to move, and I had to hold my bag tight against my chest. I was standing between a man with a large backpack and a woman who was holding a bunch of flowers, and I could hardly breathe. The air was warm and a bit stuffy, because everyone was wearing heavy winter coats.

The journey lasted about twenty-five minutes, and I changed lines once, which meant battling through another crowd. To cope, I focused on a few simple things: I kept my eyes on the signs, listened to music through my earphones and tried to stay calm. Interestingly, nobody complained; people seemed used to it.

I felt very uncomfortable and slightly anxious that I'd miss my stop, but when I finally got out, I felt a strange sense of achievement. It was an intense experience, and it made me appreciate how efficient their system is, but I would definitely avoid travelling at that time again.