Transport and infrastructure

La hora valle is the valley hour, and it has a twin: la hora punta, the peak. Spanish keeps both halves of the picture — a line of demand rising to a summit and falling into a trough — and prices them differently, which is why both words are on every fare table. English kept the summit only: « peak », and then « off-peak », defined by what it is not. The valley is the better word, because a trough is a real time of day with its own trains and its own passengers, and Spanish can name it in two syllables.