In the week we came to Stockholm in 2009, the thing that most amazed me, and the thing I told everyone about when I got home, was the underground trains.
Compared to the London Tube, the Stockholm Tunnelbana is in another league. It's clean. It's smooth. It's quiet. MY PHONE WORKS UNDERGROUND.
Everyone else here looked at my excited, hyper reaction with confusion. And, why not? Here, a smooth, quiet train where you can sit comfortably and use your phone is how things should be. It's how it should be in the UK, too.
In my opinion, these two trains are a great way of showing the differences between my experiences with the communication and public travel infrastructures in the two countries. Pay particular attention to the audio — they were both recorded by the same camera, set to the same volume setting. The audio has been boosted in iMovie, but by the same amount on both videos.
First, a London Tube train clattering between stations:
Second, a Stockholm Tunnelbana train travelling smoothly between stations:
See what I mean?