Sweden’s Failure At Transportation
By Adeola Aderounmu
Sweden is always trying to save the rest of the world from all unpleasant situations. There are so many adventures that Sweden have undertaken since time immemorial. I remember a damaged pipeline off the American coast or where was again, Gulf of Mexico? Sweden was the country that succeeded in stopping the leakage and ending a potential environmental disaster.
Sweden is everywhere. She goes to Africa doing all kinds of missions. She invades the Middle East and scoop souls to save or revive. Sweden builds abroad, with very fine architectures. She exports music, Spotify, Abba, Aviciii (RIP) and so many good things of life. No doubt she brings home the rewards of plundering.
But if you live in Stockholm especially along what we call the surface train lines (pendeltåget), Sweden would have at some point made your life hell on earth. There is a dilemma on this surface train line that I have witnessed for almost 2 decades. If a problem can persist for that long, and of there is no solution in sight, the most appropriate explanation is corruption. There must be some form of massive corruption that has made it impossible for Sweden and Stockholm to end “a simple” problem she would have solved if the problem was in another country.
In the winter every year and sometimes with temperatures as low as minus 21, the Stockholm surface train could suddenly be out of service throwing many passengers into confusion. The pain is indescribable. The frustration, the anxiety and the uncertainties that occur every winter in Stockholm with respect to the failed surface train schedules should be studied. It may be a life shortener.
Let us be clear about a great nation that Sweden is. She has the longest underground tunnel network in the world. It has been described as the longest work of art made by man. That is very commendable. The fact is the network continues to grow because more interconnections have been proposed and some are near completions. The underground blue line has been extended and will reach a new length in the nearest future. The problems with the Swedish underground trains are not severe. They are no unusual and do not take time to clear.
It is even slightly mysterious that the underground network (that is under the earth) works better and more effective the surface network that is over the earth. Could it be that more focus is placed on something that is under the earth than something that is above it? Are they trying to tell us that the surface train is more exposed to drastic changes in weather? You must wonder why Sweden can take care of the underground train network better than the surface train network.
Nevertheless, with all the knowledge, experience and technical abilities in Sweden, the surface train network remains a disturbing shame to the country. This winter 2023 December, a lot of train travel times have been cancelled. Some trains have run on shorter wagons. There have been complains about the maintenance of the tracks. That really is shocking: that the tracks are not well maintained. What is serious accidents occur? The blaming game would start. Who does not know that prevention is better than cure?
The consequences of these annual anomalies may in fact constitute serious aspects of mental health imbalance for affected people. We must see beyond the frustrations on their faces. Failed train networks do more than causing lateness to work. People also often get late to getting their wards from schools. They miss other friends and family engagements or activities. What about the financial or economic loss to the county? Individuals lose time and money. The country loses time and money. When shorter wagons run, the crowd at the stations build up. In this cold weather, that is a means to increase the spread of communicable diseases. A substantial part of the residents fear for terror attacks too. The crowd that builds up when trains stop working or are delayed are potential spots for attacks.
My suggestion to the Swedish Transport Corporation (Stockholm Local Traffic) is that they need to sit down and look at themselves in the faces and in the mirror. They need to get this system working by taking a holistic approach to problem solving in this sector.
The tracks must be fixed and maintained as scheduled. Ten years over the schedule time is a clear indication of being irresponsible and taking our lives for granted. There will be winter every year. So why is every winter characterized by the same problems with the trains? I do not think there are newer problems with the trains than they were 10 years ago. Winter will come, there will be snow, it will be cold. Is there anything that the Stockholm Local Traffic does not know about winter? Winter should no longer be an excuse for poor train services. This is Sweden!
What is this thing about shortage of employees? Take measures to make the job of a train driver attractive and get more people employed. There are so many unemployed people in Stockholm, so we should not be having shortage of employees at all. No, we should not.
There is the story of failure of signal. I don’t think anybody knows what that means. It has become an acronym for “out of service” if you ask me. Can you please explain “signal fel” to us so we can proffer a solution?
The bottom line is that the Stockholm Local traffic lacks pre-emptiveness and the corporation is behaving like it is doing us a favour. We are paying for this extremely poor delivery of services which is why I maintain that the underlying cause of these problems is massive corruption within the Stockholm Local Traffic.
The corruption must be addressed in order to improve services. In my end of the train line, we have a 30-minute interval to deal with. If a train is cancelled, that is minimum of one hour waiting time. The interval must be improved going forward.
I understand that politics too have a role to play in all these poor service deliveries. Talk to the concerned politicians about your needs and bring the citizens on your side to improve train services. Stop further increase in the prices of train tickets because the quality of service delivery have declined in the last 2 decades.
Don’t forget: update your tracks to prevent accidents or derailing.
One can be proud of Sweden in many ways, but in the Stockholm transport system, shame is what I feel. Fear is what I breathe when expecting visitors and never knowing if they will arrive or travel back in peace.
Sweden is everywhere. But I don’t see Sweden in the Stockholm Local Traffic.
A View From The Scandinavian 