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This is a metro station in Stockholm. And this is another one along the same metro line.
Explore Stockholm's metro, known as the world's longest art exhibition, showcasing stunning underground stations with unique artworks and designs.
Ask about this video. Answers come from its transcript only — with the timestamp, so you can check them.
Generated from the transcript and can be wrong — check the timestamp.
Key Takeaways
- Stockholm’s metro system is a unique blend of public transit and public art.
- Artistic design is integrated into most stations, making daily commutes visually enriching.
- The underground stations are more artistically impressive than the outdoor ones.
- Frequent train arrivals make it easy to explore and film the metro stations.
- Public sector involvement has helped maintain high quality and affordability in the metro’s development.
What the video covers
- Stockholm's metro is famously called 'the world’s longest art exhibition' due to its creatively decorated stations.
- About 90% of the metro stations feature sculptures, paintings, light installations, tile mosaics, or other artwork.
- The most impressive stations are underground, especially along the blue and green lines built or renovated since the 1970s.
- Stations like T-Centralen, Stadion, and Solna Centrum are highly photographed for their immersive and cavernous artistic designs.
- Many stations feature unique details such as neon escalator lights, rotating art displays, and thematic tile artwork.
- The metro system is easy to navigate with frequent trains, allowing visitors to explore many stations in a short time.
- Newer commuter rail stations like Citybanan – Odenplan and Stockholm City also feature modern and artistic designs.
- Stockholm’s metro art often incorporates historical and cultural themes, with some stations offering guided tours for deeper context.
- The system’s beauty is supported by public sector expertise rather than privatization, ensuring quality and societal benefits.
- The video also promotes the creator’s new travel show on Nebula, emphasizing creator-owned platforms.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to Stockholm Metro Art
- 01:07Visiting in Winter and Daylight Challenges
- 02:23Outdoor vs Underground Stations
- 03:36T-Centralen Station and Blue Line Art
- 04:59Solna Centrum and Cave-like Stations
- 06:18Guided Tours and Artistic Details
- 07:32Odenplan Station and Citybanan Commuter Rail
- 08:55Tile Art and Historical Influences
- 09:58Additional Artistic Themes and Accessibility
- 11:28Cost, Public Sector Role, and Creator Promotion
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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There are dozens of stations here that are creatively decorated, which is why Stockholm refers to their metro as “the world’s longest art exhibition.”
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I had seen articles and photos of the Stockholm metro before, but I figured these images were photoshopped to make them look more interesting than they really are.
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But no, they really do look this cool in person. So let me show you what I saw while visiting one of the world’s most beautiful metro systems. [NJB Intro] A very, very quick announcement: I have a new show on Nebula called Day Pass. It’s a travel
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show where I take you around a different city each episode, while also riding as much public transit as possible. Check out the link in the description or stick around ‘til the end to learn more.
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I was in Stockholm for a few days before Christmas. So while I was in town, I wanted to explore the city and to see what improvements had been made since the last time I was here, almost twenty years ago.
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Unfortunately, in late December there aren’t a lot of hours of daylight, so I didn’t spend much time filming outside. Although it was nice to visit when the Christmas lights were out. Fortunately, one of the best
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things to see in Stockholm is underground, so I could film the metro at any time of the day.
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And I was seriously impressed. I started my travels by following this list of “beautiful stations” on the Visit Stockholm website.
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I had seen articles about the art on the Stockholm metro before, and there were always about a dozen stations featured, so I figured that these were the only nice ones.
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But the reality is that 90% of stations on the metro system have some kind of sculptures, paintings, light installations, tile mosaics, or other kinds of artwork. I am not exactly sure what criteria was
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used to decide on this particular list of stations, perhaps some of the artists were more famous than others, but I visited over two dozen metro stations while I was in Stockholm and many of these were just as beautiful as the ones on the Visit Stockholm website.
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With that being said, about half of the stations on the metro are outdoors, and these are much less impressive than the underground stations.
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There might be a few interesting sculptures like this one, but they’re otherwise pretty utilitarian. Unless you consider this highway to be a work of art. Dystopian art, maybe? The large-scale immersive artwork mostly started
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in the 1970s, so any stations built before that date are much less impressive than later stations.
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In practice, that means that the most interesting stations are along the blue line, which first opened in 1975, or any of the newer stations along the green line.
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This also means that there can be a big difference between the different platforms at transfer stations. For example, I was originally pretty disappointed when I first got to T-Centralen station, which is on the list of “beautiful stations.”
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The tiles are nice enough, but it’s not a very impressive station. The next time I arrived here, I was brought to this platform, which has some much nicer tile designs. And of course, as soon as I transferred to
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the blue line platform it was immediately obvious why this station was on the list.
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This is probably the most photographed station in Stockholm, and it’s the one that immediately comes up when you do an image search for “Stockholm metro.”
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Probably because it’s the one that’s directly connected to the main train station and commuter rail station. These huge blue and white patterns look even larger and more impressive in person than they do in photographs because they span across the entire station. There’s an exit here to the main train station,
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as well as the Stockholm City commuter rail station. Another often-photographed station is Stadion, with these colourful rainbow paintings covering every wall and ceiling. These stations feel very spacious when you’re
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there in person, like you’re in a giant cave. And I guess that’s because … you are in a giant cave, made of granite and bedrock. Many of the stations along the blue and green lines look like this where the walls and ceilings were left unfinished and then covered in sprayable concrete, sometimes called Shotcrete, before being painted.
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Which gives this amazing cavernous look and makes every station feel very spacious. A great example of this is Solna Centrum, which is very often
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photographed to look like you’re in some kind of evil cave.
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But when you visit in person there are so many small details that don’t come through in those viral photos, like these silhouettes of little houses.
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And there are also lots of splashes of colour throughout, as well as this bizarre little diorama of a town with a flying tram.
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The rest of the station has all kinds of strange artwork, and lots of green trees throughout. There are other stations like Näckrosen that are smaller, but the open ceilings still make the station feel very spacious.
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I also loved the escalator lights at this station. One of the things that pleasantly surprised me was just how many small details there were at many of these stations.
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You could pass through here dozens of times and still find new things. There’s often a deeper story that the artist had in mind when designing each station, so if you’re interested in learning more,
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you can book a guided tour of the metro system to get that context.
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But it’s also perfectly reasonable to do as I did: buy a day pass and visit stations from a list, or really even just ride the metro and get out at any station that looks interesting.
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I found it to be trivially easy to travel around from station to station because the trains arrive very, very frequently. I have filmed a lot of metro stations for this channel, and I always prefer to wait for a train to arrive or depart, as the video looks
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much more interesting with some movement. In some cities I’ve needed to wait a long time to get the right shot, but in Stockholm, trains arrived so frequently that this was never a problem. And when I was filming this platform at
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Odenplan the trains were arriving and departing every few minutes, so not only was it trivially easy to get a shot with a train in motion, I also got several shots with two trains arriving or departing at the same time!
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This platform has a display case with rotating artwork displays by recent art school graduates.
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This actually takes up a surprising amount of room on this narrow platform, but I guess it’s sandwiched between these creepy stairways to nowhere so the space wasn’t really being used anyway. This was one of the stations that made the
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list but not for the metro station, but rather as Citybanan – Odenplan, the newer commuter rail station connected to the metro station.
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The Citybanan is a commuter rail tunnel under the centre of Stockholm that opened in 2017. This was built to allow faster commuter train travel through the city, and to free up railway capacity on the surface so that more intercity trains could operate.
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The platform of Odenplan station has a spacious and modern design, but the most interesting part is the escalator with these neon lights that span across the ceiling. The other Citybanan station is Stockholm City,
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which is connected to the main train station through this tunnel with these crazy shapes on the roof. A lot of the art in the Stockholm metro is made with tiles, and it’s common to see stations built in the 1950s that have tiles on the wall.
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These are very reminiscent of tile designs in the older stations in the Toronto subway as well.
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Because tiles were very popular in metro stations built in the 1950s and 60s, which is why tiles like these are often just called “subway tiles.” So that tile theme is commonly used in the art in new metro stations in Stockholm.
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Like this wall in Odenplan station, made up of thousands of small square tiles. There are similar mosai...
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Another “tile artwork” station is Thorildsplan that uses subway tiles like the pixels in pixel art. There are characters inspired by Pac-Man, Super Mario Brothers, and many other classic video games.
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Isn’t this great? I’ve taken so many commutes by public transit in my life, and they would’ve been so much more joyful if the walls of my station were decorated like this.
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At Rinkeby station, subway tiles were used to create these detailed mosaics, that are visible at several locations throughout the station.
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Another station that did the “subway tiles” theme well was Västra skogen, where the whole station is filled with all kinds of wacky colourful artwork made from subway tiles.
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The colourful tiles contrast well with the grey rock background. For what it’s worth, this station wasn’t included in the list on the Visit Stockholm website.
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The last few stations that were on the list include Solna Strand. This station has sky cubes sunken into the walls, ceiling, and platform, and it was designed by Japanese sculptor Takashi Naraha. It’s pretty neat but I found this station to be
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much less interesting than many of the others, so I assume it made the list mostly because it was designed by a famous foreign artist. Or maybe I just don’t understand good art.
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Another station that I found underwhelming was Bagarmossen. The only interesting features I saw were these coloured glass panels.
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I’m probably missing something here. I was able to get a shot with two trains moving at the same time though, so that's something. I really enjoyed Hallonbergen station though.
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The white walls covered in children’s drawings made the station feel so joyful. This just makes it so much nicer to wait for a train here.
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Östermalmstorg station also has wacky line drawings, as well as musical phrases on the themes of peace, the fight for women’s rights, and environmental protection. This art was created by covering the station in a dark layer of stone, then a layer of concrete. The illustrations were then projected onto the
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walls and the concrete was sand-blasted away to show the dark stone underneath. Pretty cool! Tekniska Högskolan station has these really interesting formations that look like they’re carved into the rock.
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And these bizarre shapes, And crazy paintings. And then one station further along the line is Universitetet, which is covered in scientific drawings featuring the work of the 18th-century Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus, as well as excerpts from the UN
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Declaration of Universal Human Rights. I liked this, but as a typography nerd, using a zero in place of “O” on these tiles was triggering.
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I was also glad to see that artwork wasn’t only installed in the busiest stations in the city centre, but also at suburban stations. Like here at Mörby Centrum, which is at the very end of the red line. And it also has very cool lights on the escalators
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Speaking of the end of the line, at any stations where trains could leave from more than one platform, there are these speakers on the ceiling that make a ticking noise on whatever side the train is leaving next.
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And the faster the ticking sound, the sooner the train will depart. These were installed to help people with visual impairments, but like most accessibility improvements, they help everyone else too, as long as you know what to listen for.
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A station I regularly found myself at was Fridhemsplan, because it’s the main transfer point between the blue and green lines.
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The green line platforms are yellow, with the shotcrete ceiling and all kinds of different artwork displayed along the walls.
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And the transfer to the blue line really makes it feel like you’re deep underground.
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There’s also a tunnel to transfer to the bus station, along with a departure board.
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I thought at first that this thing on the ceiling was a net to catch falling rocks or something, But on closer inspection it was part of the artwork as well.
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The blue line platform has a nautical theme, With ship models, And this compass on the wall. As well as lots of other random displays.
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Bizarre. I also enjoyed these childlike paintings along the platform. I have no idea why this station didn’t make the list, as I found it to be more interesting than most.
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But one station that did make the list, and wins the award for the most unhinged artwork, is Kungsträdgården, at the south end of the blue line.
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When I stepped off, I thought it looked pretty similar to the other stations I had seen along the blue line. Just with these candy-cane like stripes across the platforms. And the occasional gargoyle head.
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It was also interesting to see that they have what looks like bare natural rock, without a concrete covering. The more I walked through this station the crazier it got though, with bizarre statues and random art.
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Some of these stone pieces are apparently the actual ruins of the 17th century royal palace that used to be located nearby, but burned down and was demolished in the 1800s.
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Where do you think this door goes? I couldn’t manage to get it open. I was actually getting off at this station and as I was going up the escalator I noticed that this is one of the stations with this crazy diagonal elevator.
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There are a few stations that have cool elevators like this that run alongside the escalator and they move crazy-fast. I like these. But what I really appreciated is how the entrance to this station was on a car-free street with a bike path running through it.
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Pretty nice! Incidentally, I filmed this scene at four in the afternoon and it was already this dark, so yeah, I’ll be coming back in summer if I want to make a video about any of the stuff on the surface.
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Anybody who watches this channel regularly knows that I really really hate it when a metro exit drops you off at the side of a busy road. The area around a rapid transit stop is some of the most valuable land in the entire city, so it shouldn’t be wasted on car infrastructure.
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So I was very happy to see that Stockholm does a pretty good job of ensuring that the exits to their metro system are pedestrian friendly. With many exits bringing metro riders directly to pedestrianised or low-car streets. And this was the case even at many of the suburban
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stations visited, such as here at Tensta. This station brings metro riders directly to a pedestrianised square, even though it's a very suburban station.
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Tensta also had some great artwork. The artist clearly leaned into the “cave” idea and put neolithic-inspired cave drawings all over the walls.
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And what looks like somebody’s school notes with doodles on it. I can relate. It is just so wonderful to ride a transit system where so much care and thought has been put into making the experience pleasant and enjoyable for transit riders. Obviously it helps that the
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Stockholm metro is quite extensive, And that the trains arrive with regular frequency, But there’s something to be said about travelling through beautiful places as you ride the metro.
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There’s also value in bringing art to the general public, to people who may never consider going to an art gallery, but who will ride the metro on a regular basis.
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One of the unexpected benefits of station artwork is that each station gets its own identity, and that changes the way you think about it and remember it.
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There is evidence to suggest that these unique stations make the transit system easier to navigate, as people can more easily build a mental map of where they are and where they’re going, compared to a metro system where all stations look essentially the same.
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It really does feel different riding the metro in Stockholm, compared to most other cities, but you might be wondering about the cost of all this. How can Stockholm afford to make their metro system so beautiful while other cities are struggling to build even
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ugly, utilitarian transit? Well, I did some research on that, and it’s actually really interesting, as it starts to show the absurdity of the typical lowest-bidder public transit mentality that is prevalent in so many other cities.
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For example, I read that the “unfinished” look of a station like this actually cost the government less than if they had produced a typical “finished” metro station instead, because those finishings are more expensive than the art.
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Though apparently this “raw” design does have higher maintenance costs for things like moisture control. And the transit operator needs to pay to maintain the art, which varies each year depending on what work needs to be done, but is typically between 10-15 million Swedish kroner annually,
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or about 1 to 1.5 million euros per year. But the metro operator has also said that the artwork discourages vandalism and graffiti, which is a major cost for public transit operators, and while it doesn't totally offset the cost of the art, it does reduce
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what they would pay in overall maintenance. Of course, another reason why Stockholm can afford to provide these beautiful stations is because their metro and rail construction costs have been historically quite low, especially compared to other European cities.
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A big part of the reason for that is that Stockholm has relied heavily on experts within the public sector, instead of farming everything out to private sector contractors and public-private partnerships. Unfortunately neoliberal politicians within the Swedish government have been pushing to reduce the role of the government in future projects,
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which will likely have the same effect that it has had in other countries: funneling lots of tax dollars into private sector profits, instead of providing more value to the public. I’ll put a link to this report in the description
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if you’d like to learn more. Regardless of costs though, this artwork has real benefits. It makes it clear to everyone that the government cares about public transit, and treats public transit riders like first-class citizens.
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And when that happens, people are more likely to want to take public transit. They will also have a sense of civic pride about their transit system, and will want it to be successful. And that can only be a good thing, especially for
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public support for future transit projects. Stockholm is currently constructing 18 new stations, the largest expansion to the metro system in 50 years.
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And, of course, these new stations will have new artwork as well. When constructing new stations, the Stockholm region budgets about 1% of the total cost of the station to go to artwork, which is expected to work out to about 10 million kroner, or about 1 million
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Euro per station. Honestly, given the societal benefits alone, that seems like a great deal.
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And it makes for a metro system that feels inviting and one that people actually want to use. Which should be the ultimate goal of any transit system.
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I know whenever I visit a new city, one of the first things I like to do is explore the transit system. Riding public transit gives you an authentic view of the city, and helps you better understand what life is like for the people who live there.
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If you feel the same, and let’s face it, if you’ve made it this far through the video you almost certainly do, then let me tell you about my new Nebula show, Day Pass. Day Pass is a travel show where
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I take you around a city to see interesting urbanist and cultural locations, while also riding as much public transit as possible. The first episode is available right now on Nebula, and I start the series in the most suitable place possible: Nantes,
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in France, the city that had the world’s first public transit route. You can watch the first episode of Day Pass right now in the Nebula app on your phone or TV or by going to nebula.tv/daypass. If you’re not familiar with Nebula,
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it’s a subscription streaming service that’s owned and operated by creators, not venture capitalists, private equity, or big tech. Which is why Nebula can afford to support creators and to give them a platform to make the videos they want to make.
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When you sign up to Nebula, you not only support this channel and get early access to all of my future videos, you also get access to thousands of videos from over 250 other talented creators.
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All without any ads or sponsorships. You’ll also get access to Nebula Originals, which includes unique shows like Day Pass, but also documentary films and many other videos that are only available on Nebula. It’s amazing what can be accomplished
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when you cut big tech out of the picture. Nebula also has gift cards, and my Dutch viewers will be glad to know you can buy them with iDEAL. You can even send one to yourself if you just want to try Nebula without using a credit card. So if you want to support a streaming service with
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lots of original high-quality videos, that’s also dedicated to making creators the best that they can be, then consider signing up to Nebula. If you sign up using the link go.nebula.tv/notjustbikes, or buy a gift card at gift.nebula.tv/notjustbikes, then you’ll support this channel financially and get 50% off an annual subscription.
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Thanks to everyone who supports this channel on Nebula, on Patreon, or even here on YouTube by watching this video all the way through to the end. I appreciate it.
Topics:Stockholm metropublic transit artmetro stationsurban designpublic transportationmetro art exhibitionblue line Stockholmgreen line Stockholmpublic sector infrastructureNot Just Bikes
