In 1955 Sweden had a vote where about 83% of all voters wanted to keep the left side driving. However, the government said no, you're all dumb, and introduced right side driving in 1967.
We Finnish had jokes about it. It was told that the Swedes start switching sides in two phases to avoid confusion. First week, only trucks use the right side. Second week, all vehicles follow.
Remember that we are talking about Swedes here. They end up always going with the silly option rather than the rational one.
In reality they probably thought that Saab and Volvo, while probably will sell primarily in Sweden, are important exporters and it's that much cheaper to just have the product lines spit out right-hand drive cars. Or that's my theory.
Very correct. We still had the stearing wheel on the left side due to us importing most of our cars from Germany and our car companys seeling their cars to other right side driving countries.
No, stupid government
It's bad democracy to hold a referendum and completely ignore the results
If you have already made up your mind, just make the choice instead of pretending to care what the people think
In Spain, Madrid drove on the left while Barcelona drove on the right. It was left to each city to decide what side of the road people drove on up until 1924. The Madrid metro runs on the left because it was first started before 1924 and they decided not to change the driving direction.
It makes sense but it's so stupid at the same time what were they thinking.
Edit: I mean, alright it's 1922 and cars aren't that popular yet (specially Spain) but after a quick search the comment above me is right, the directive to leave the driving direction decision to each town is what I found crazy, imagine my town drives on the left and the one next to me less than 5km away drives on the right, completely bonkers.
There were horses before and it most likely was based on that.
Intracity travel was infrequent and you had enough time plus the horses would prevent you from crashing.
Well, I don't really know the specifics but I don't think the provincial governments of the 1860s and onwards really had much power until the 20th century democracy (even the 2nd republic didn't get really far in decentralization), surely the central govt. didn't really care about this issue until Primo de Rivera came into power.
Welcome to Spanish politics! Completely bonkers and highly incompetent have been the mark of our leadership since before the Romans arrived.
Spain is kinda like a mini confederation light, though. Each region has a lot more power and independence from the central government than usual. Not as much as the states in the US, but still more than usual in a country. So this kind of thing happens sometimes.
You mentioned a metro system. Trains in general don't always follow the same rules as cars interestingly. To this day, countries like France and Switzerland have left hand traffic on their railroads. Spain, Luxembourg and Austria still mix what side their trains go as well on a per-line basis
When I was a little fellah I was told it was Scottish engineers (industrial revolution, steam engines & all) who set up the first rail systems in many countries & they defaulted to left hand drive 'cos that's what they had at home.
All mainline trains in Spain run on the right afaik. It's only the Madrid Metro and a section of Barcelona Metro line 2 that run on the left. It's a bit of a mess, especially for tourists, because in Madrid suburban trains run on the right, unlike the metro.
A bunch of lost tourists. The metro is 100% segregated from any other traffic, it doesn't mix with other trains or with street traffic so there isn't much of a problem.
What's funny is that Rome is still "mixed". Not in the legal or comedic sense, but there are spots where traffic intentionally flows on the left.
There's several bridges across the Tiber that are like this, so that there are fewer traffic intersections. Sometimes if you don't know this or are distracted, you can go the wrong way by trying to keep on the right hand side.
It’s legitimately this. I went there as a tourist, didn’t drive, but I quickly found out that basically no one stops at crossings if you just stand there waiting, you need to start walking and dare them to run you over.
That's cultural actually. North of Rome they do stop 50% of the time, south of Rome not as much. My best friend moved from Messina to Forlì and she said having cars intentionally stop to let cross was the biggest culture shock she experienced.
There are two driving modes in the Italians.
1. always min 15kph over the limit, usually more, while keeping a distance at which you can’t read the number plate of the car behind you because it’s too close.
2. going 40 on a rural road that has 70 or more as the limit while driving somewhere on the road, lanes are for rookies.
Last year visited Sicily with a rented car. Not a single problem once you know THEIR traffic rules.
Do you want to turn left and there is no traffic lights? Stop the traffic to your left stopping in front of them, the cars to your right will give you way.
Great time btw.
Same I really enjoyed driving in Siciliy. Felt refreshing to drive by assertion and common sense, coming from Germany where people will rather die or get stuck for 30 minutes instead of letting someone pass who doesn't have the right of way.
I really like these common sense rules too.
In Madrid when you merge two traffic lines into one, they use a "zip method": first left, then right; repeat.
I'm Sicilian and there's no common sense in how we drive 😄
But, yes, there's some in taking initiative by using common sense. Here in Brussels, if you slow down to let the other pass, they will refrain until you flash them.
It gets me mad, because it's fucking clear I'm slowing down to give you plenty of time to pass.
Also I hate flashing because, in Sicily, it has the completely opposite meaning: stop, I want to take precedence.
This is dumb as well, as it sounds rude and often leads to fucking off each other 😄
I realised the Sicilian roads were a lawless place when I was overtaken by a police van (and several other vehicles sequentially) through a tunnel with solid no overtaking lines, cameras pointed right at them at the tunnel exit, and going 100kph in a 60kph zone...
I was once told by an Italian that in northern Italy the speed limits are suggestions as most are way lower than what people think is safe and the further south you go the more the rest become suggestions as well.
Some cities like Rome and Milan were exempted from the federal law change in 1912. They took another 10-15 years to change side.
In a lot of old Italian films you see some right-hand drive vehicles.
In Italy, before the first unified Highway Code was introduced, each municipality or province had its own Highway Code, with different rules, for example the Province of Milan drove on right while the city of Milan drove on the left, this resulted in traffic jams on the borders as driver and riders of vehicles and animals had to switch sides.
This also caused some issues to the supply chain to the front during the Great War.
I mean, when I first saw the map, the borders made me wonder. And then I saw the title and it all made sense :P
Then for the rest of the people, not sure what to say but the brain sees what it wants lol
What's funny is that Rome is still "mixed". Not in the legal sense, but there are spots where traffic intentionally flows on the left. There's several bridges across the Tiber that are like this, so that there are fewer traffic intersections. Sometimes if you don't know this or are distracted, you can go the wrong way by trying to keep on the right hand side.
Wait a minute, this guy is right. A quick look onto the Google maps proved exactly what they wrote. As a sucker for intersections this makes my day. Thanks for this.
I test-drove a MiTo QV and it was bonkers. Tiny box with insane power.
But, I'm Finnish and practical and all that, I got a Giulietta with the same engine, and then chipped it to 200 bhp. The only thing that they could've done was to make it rear-wheel drive, then it'd be perfect.
I still don't get Italian way of driving on the highway. Just between 2 tracks, not left nor right. Then only when person noticed you are taking him over he moves to the right. Insane
Mixed as in not the whole country had switched. The creator of the map explains that and [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/s/sbu03O9l8O).
But yeah, terrifying if you think of it as mixed directions :P
OOP mentions that it includes all vehicles, motorized or not, he didn’t include all vehicles, tho. In east Austria Trains switched to right hand drive in 2012 due do the design of the new Main station in Vienna.
You need to read the year to exactly understand what's being displayed, you don't need the year to know that this is data for an old ass map.
Borders are completely different and everyone in Europe drives on the right besides the UK.
This is common knowledge, but I guess it's too much to ask from the common person.
What's funny is that Rome is still "mixed". Not in the legal sense, but there are spots where traffic intentionally flows on the left. There's several bridges across the Tiber that are like this, so that there are fewer traffic intersections. Sometimes if you don't know this or are distracted, you can go the wrong way by trying to keep on the right hand side.
Back in the 1970s the UK had drawn up a plan to shift to driving on the right side. After much study and preparations, like Sweden, all cars were to be switched to driving on the right side overnight. This would require a Herculean effort. 6 months of followup study would be performed to determine whether the accident level was acceptable, and if so, then all trucks and buses would be switched over too.
In 1955 Sweden had a vote where about 83% of all voters wanted to keep the left side driving. However, the government said no, you're all dumb, and introduced right side driving in 1967.
We Finnish had jokes about it. It was told that the Swedes start switching sides in two phases to avoid confusion. First week, only trucks use the right side. Second week, all vehicles follow.
We did it in a day, and it was quite painless. The funny thing was that our cars and trucks were already made for right-hand traffic
They were?! That’s surprising, really.
Remember that we are talking about Swedes here. They end up always going with the silly option rather than the rational one. In reality they probably thought that Saab and Volvo, while probably will sell primarily in Sweden, are important exporters and it's that much cheaper to just have the product lines spit out right-hand drive cars. Or that's my theory.
The post office bought left side cars from both volvo and saab, so there has always existed option for both.
With a hefty premium, I would assume.
Do you mean they bought right-hand drive cars when there were still left-side traffic?
Yes so they could stop and fill mailboxes while still sitting in the car, without hindering the traffic.
First sentence is a classical r/2nordic4you moment
You had no such issues with your horses :p
Except for your city busses which were subsequently sold to Pakistan
Very correct. We still had the stearing wheel on the left side due to us importing most of our cars from Germany and our car companys seeling their cars to other right side driving countries.
Congrats :P
Never underestimate the power of knee-jerk conservatism, even in the face of all common sense.
I'll keep underestimating the power of knee-jerk conservatism because that's the way we've always done it, tyvm.
Based government.
No, stupid government It's bad democracy to hold a referendum and completely ignore the results If you have already made up your mind, just make the choice instead of pretending to care what the people think
The public opinion in these votes has never made any impact in Sweden
It was the right decision I think, with all neighbours being the same and all, but then just don't do a vote?
First time in history i agree with a Government's Dictat
But Brexit means .. Brexit??
What do you mean MIXED???
In Spain, Madrid drove on the left while Barcelona drove on the right. It was left to each city to decide what side of the road people drove on up until 1924. The Madrid metro runs on the left because it was first started before 1924 and they decided not to change the driving direction.
It makes sense but it's so stupid at the same time what were they thinking. Edit: I mean, alright it's 1922 and cars aren't that popular yet (specially Spain) but after a quick search the comment above me is right, the directive to leave the driving direction decision to each town is what I found crazy, imagine my town drives on the left and the one next to me less than 5km away drives on the right, completely bonkers.
Intercity travel by car was infrequent enough that it wasn't a problem, I guess.
True, there couldn't have been many petroleum distillate stations between urban centers either.
There were horses before and it most likely was based on that. Intracity travel was infrequent and you had enough time plus the horses would prevent you from crashing.
Surely it confused the horses though, they would've become used to only travelling/passing on one particular side.
I don't think most horses went to more than one city tho
Well, remember it was 1922
Spain had bigger problems in the 1920s
Everything in Spain is decided region by region. Not surprising really
Well, I don't really know the specifics but I don't think the provincial governments of the 1860s and onwards really had much power until the 20th century democracy (even the 2nd republic didn't get really far in decentralization), surely the central govt. didn't really care about this issue until Primo de Rivera came into power.
Welcome to Spanish politics! Completely bonkers and highly incompetent have been the mark of our leadership since before the Romans arrived. Spain is kinda like a mini confederation light, though. Each region has a lot more power and independence from the central government than usual. Not as much as the states in the US, but still more than usual in a country. So this kind of thing happens sometimes.
Tell me more about bronze Age iberian leadership
I am also interested
Shit, that explains it. Always wondering why Renfe has different sides to Metro
You mentioned a metro system. Trains in general don't always follow the same rules as cars interestingly. To this day, countries like France and Switzerland have left hand traffic on their railroads. Spain, Luxembourg and Austria still mix what side their trains go as well on a per-line basis
Austria switched to right side traffic on all trains in ~~2015~~ 2012
When I was a little fellah I was told it was Scottish engineers (industrial revolution, steam engines & all) who set up the first rail systems in many countries & they defaulted to left hand drive 'cos that's what they had at home.
All mainline trains in Spain run on the right afaik. It's only the Madrid Metro and a section of Barcelona Metro line 2 that run on the left. It's a bit of a mess, especially for tourists, because in Madrid suburban trains run on the right, unlike the metro.
what could go wrong?
A bunch of lost tourists. The metro is 100% segregated from any other traffic, it doesn't mix with other trains or with street traffic so there isn't much of a problem.
In Barcelona we have L2 where at some point it goes from driving on the right to driving on the left for some rason
Italy is still FFA and they can smell your fear from a mile away if you drive there as a tourist
In italy, the right hand drive is not a law. It's a suggestion /s
What's funny is that Rome is still "mixed". Not in the legal or comedic sense, but there are spots where traffic intentionally flows on the left. There's several bridges across the Tiber that are like this, so that there are fewer traffic intersections. Sometimes if you don't know this or are distracted, you can go the wrong way by trying to keep on the right hand side.
To make matters worse there are either zero signals or a bunch of contradictory and unclear ones
So they're in Italian?
Italians don't drive "mixed"... Italians drive wherever the fuck they want. Everyone knows that.
I worked in Rome last year for a few months and those bridges really confused me
It’s legitimately this. I went there as a tourist, didn’t drive, but I quickly found out that basically no one stops at crossings if you just stand there waiting, you need to start walking and dare them to run you over.
That's cultural actually. North of Rome they do stop 50% of the time, south of Rome not as much. My best friend moved from Messina to Forlì and she said having cars intentionally stop to let cross was the biggest culture shock she experienced.
When I was living there I used to throw my bike in front of me or they’d never let me pass the crosswalks.
I experienced this in India. I learned to cross with a local being placed “down-stream” and just followed them.
After crossing roads in India, the rest of the world's traffic will feel like a leisurely stroll.
Of course, who knows if you want to cross or you are just chilling at the roadside? Just be clear and cross
Oh lord. Literally every other country that doesn’t have this philosophy never have this issue.
wrong, pedestrians have the right of way. cars should stop
What does FFA mean?
Free-For-All, basically a mode where its everyone against everyone in videogames.
Oh, duh. Thanks :-)
Fart Fetish Alliance
i see nothing off about this i'm sure its true
Future Farmers of America
I used to find driving in Italy unsettling. Then I did 3000k around India last year. Now nothing can shock me.
Thats why I always drink and drive when I’m in Italy PS. Don’t
There are two driving modes in the Italians. 1. always min 15kph over the limit, usually more, while keeping a distance at which you can’t read the number plate of the car behind you because it’s too close. 2. going 40 on a rural road that has 70 or more as the limit while driving somewhere on the road, lanes are for rookies.
Left-hand drive refers to the left hand nonna sticks out the window making obscene gestures at you while overtaking
Ohh I smell you already 😈
Do you feel It? There are tourists nearby
Italian 4-way stop. Whoever doesn’t make eye contact goes first
Italians still have a questionable relationship with the traffic laws.
Last year visited Sicily with a rented car. Not a single problem once you know THEIR traffic rules. Do you want to turn left and there is no traffic lights? Stop the traffic to your left stopping in front of them, the cars to your right will give you way. Great time btw.
What
Basically just turn as long as it looks like everyone else has enough braking distance to you.
That’s the way here in China too. You make the turn if the other car seems like it has time to break.
Same I really enjoyed driving in Siciliy. Felt refreshing to drive by assertion and common sense, coming from Germany where people will rather die or get stuck for 30 minutes instead of letting someone pass who doesn't have the right of way.
I really like these common sense rules too. In Madrid when you merge two traffic lines into one, they use a "zip method": first left, then right; repeat.
Thats the law in Germany, too
I'm Sicilian and there's no common sense in how we drive 😄 But, yes, there's some in taking initiative by using common sense. Here in Brussels, if you slow down to let the other pass, they will refrain until you flash them. It gets me mad, because it's fucking clear I'm slowing down to give you plenty of time to pass. Also I hate flashing because, in Sicily, it has the completely opposite meaning: stop, I want to take precedence. This is dumb as well, as it sounds rude and often leads to fucking off each other 😄
Saw a man park in the middle of a 3 way cross in Sicily and people used it as a roundabout
I realised the Sicilian roads were a lawless place when I was overtaken by a police van (and several other vehicles sequentially) through a tunnel with solid no overtaking lines, cameras pointed right at them at the tunnel exit, and going 100kph in a 60kph zone...
*traffic suggestions
I was once told by an Italian that in northern Italy the speed limits are suggestions as most are way lower than what people think is safe and the further south you go the more the rest become suggestions as well.
Italy is still mixed from my experience
Because in Southern Europe you can drive in any side of the road, one requires more courage than the other though
Some cities like Rome and Milan were exempted from the federal law change in 1912. They took another 10-15 years to change side. In a lot of old Italian films you see some right-hand drive vehicles.
In The Godfather, Apollonia is seen driving an RHD Alfa Romeo.
RHD was common on high-end Italian cars until the 1950s. For example I think the 1953 250 Europa was the first standard LHD car from Ferrari.
lol
I literally was vocalizing that exact question out loud as I was opening the post and then saw your comment
In Italy, before the first unified Highway Code was introduced, each municipality or province had its own Highway Code, with different rules, for example the Province of Milan drove on right while the city of Milan drove on the left, this resulted in traffic jams on the borders as driver and riders of vehicles and animals had to switch sides. This also caused some issues to the supply chain to the front during the Great War.
I have no idea either, we all drive on the right.
I also got confused until I saw "...in Europe in *1922*."
For those who like to live dangerously
It’s funny how many people (including myself) missed > in 1922
I was about to go feral when I saw Spain was mixed
I really did that..
I missed it completely and thought I was just in Portugal this summer and they drive on the right side
Me as well lol
How? It's in the title you posted...
I mean, when I first saw the map, the borders made me wonder. And then I saw the title and it all made sense :P Then for the rest of the people, not sure what to say but the brain sees what it wants lol
I was just taking in the information, and then I noticed Weimar Germany and Czechoslovakia and thought I had accidentally slipped realities
ohh, haha. Thanks.
I was gonna ask why Ukraine and Russia do not have a border like it was USSR now it makes sense
Here I was thinking that the blue color had somehow blurred the line between Czechia and Slovakia. Nope, it was Czechoslovakia back then.
In Italy, it remained mixed till nowadays
What's funny is that Rome is still "mixed". Not in the legal sense, but there are spots where traffic intentionally flows on the left. There's several bridges across the Tiber that are like this, so that there are fewer traffic intersections. Sometimes if you don't know this or are distracted, you can go the wrong way by trying to keep on the right hand side.
Wait a minute, this guy is right. A quick look onto the Google maps proved exactly what they wrote. As a sucker for intersections this makes my day. Thanks for this.
No problem mate. For those interested, "Ponte Umberto I" in Rome is an example.
Look up diverging diamond intersections.
Oh boy, trust me when I say know them and I love them. Love with capital L.
Driving in Italy it’s quite simple actually, it’s just a mexican standoff between cars. The alpha car wins. You just have to learn how to be an alpha
Aa, that's why I drive an Alfa Romeo. edit: most Finns think I'm a fool, but Italy has food so right so why not cars?
Don’t listen to you fellow countrymen. In Italy men with Alfa Romeo give instant Big D Energy (Except for Alfa MiTo)
I test-drove a MiTo QV and it was bonkers. Tiny box with insane power. But, I'm Finnish and practical and all that, I got a Giulietta with the same engine, and then chipped it to 200 bhp. The only thing that they could've done was to make it rear-wheel drive, then it'd be perfect.
I’m a simple person who doesn’t know anything about cars, so I believe you in trust ahah Anyway, la Giulietta ♥️
What can I say, it's like the car wants to go fast. Finns like to drive fast. I think we agree.
Or accept that you are the beta and wait for your turn. Accidents only happen if both cars believe they are the alpha.
Where do you drive on the left in Italy?
Where and when you can
I still don't get Italian way of driving on the highway. Just between 2 tracks, not left nor right. Then only when person noticed you are taking him over he moves to the right. Insane
In our little way, ours is a land of opportunities, too.
During my few short visits I can say roundabouts for example 😂
There’s only one direction on roundabouts, I hope you knew that XD
Amateur...
From when I've been Italy the traffic was basically equivalent to India except there were nice-ish cars instead of wrecks
"Mixed" is terrifying
Mixed as in not the whole country had switched. The creator of the map explains that and [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/s/sbu03O9l8O). But yeah, terrifying if you think of it as mixed directions :P
OOP mentions that it includes all vehicles, motorized or not, he didn’t include all vehicles, tho. In east Austria Trains switched to right hand drive in 2012 due do the design of the new Main station in Vienna.
Hong Kong/ macau drive on the left and rest of mainland china drives on the right, then again they are considered territories but still, similar idea.
I missed the 1922 bit and panicked...
Tell me about it... Check the comments, I have to explain to people that the map is from a century ago
Lol I missed it too. I was thinking “what Russian nationalist made this map”
Same. It wasn't until I saw Czechoslovakia and thought "hang on a minute!"
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The rest of us should keep an eye open, they might betray us as well.
It was called the H-day back in 1967. Quite interesting: https://youtu.be/pVR85jpTcn8?si=4NEUKxWeq_cuJtvF
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<3
I see you guys still haven't gotten over that :P
A common joke in Finland was that the Swedes had decided to switch to driving on the right in stages: first the lorries, and then passenger cars.
Yeah, that's the same story in Denmark. Silly Swedes...
I love seeing how many people absolutly suck at reading. It says 1922 both in the title and above in the legend
You need to read the year to exactly understand what's being displayed, you don't need the year to know that this is data for an old ass map. Borders are completely different and everyone in Europe drives on the right besides the UK. This is common knowledge, but I guess it's too much to ask from the common person.
Yo, what Germany is that? Oh... in 1922
How about the Irish, which side do they drive these days?
I think on the left, same as UK.
The left, same as uk.
We never gave into peer pressure like those quitters in Sweden and Portugal
;) you also never wanted to cause any confusion at your borders
Mixed?!?!???? 🤌🤌🤌
What's funny is that Rome is still "mixed". Not in the legal sense, but there are spots where traffic intentionally flows on the left. There's several bridges across the Tiber that are like this, so that there are fewer traffic intersections. Sometimes if you don't know this or are distracted, you can go the wrong way by trying to keep on the right hand side.
Italian always do what they want.
Glad to see that Italy is still sticking to its roots!
I would have thought that everybody drives in a forward direction.
I don't think there were any traffic laws in Romania back then. King Michael drove a car by himself around the country when he was like 10.
Mixed? Do they drive however they want or....?
Mixed as in not the whole country had switched. The creator of the map explains that and [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/s/sbu03O9l8O).
Italians today when asked which side of the road they drive on: "Si."
Umm ackshually In my hometown in Bavaria there is a street that had left hand traffic until 1950. Today it's a one way street.
So how did it work the day that Portugal switched to the right?
Italy mixed, yep, still the same in some places 😂
seems like reading whole five words and number, which is then repeated as four words and one number in map itself is a challenge for many :)
you mean, driving on the right side vs driving on the wrong side.
unhinged
Mixed sounds so scary
How did those Spaniards survive?
LOOK ! Czechoslovakia being gloriously loooong
aaah italy. i would never expect anything less from my home country ❤️
Italy is a true democracy. You can choose your own driving direction there.
Mixed?? Excuse me? Fuckin what? All I can imagine is an extreme case of bumper cars lll
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I'm sorry, mixed?!
In Italy it’s just however you feel like. Just go with the flow.
Typical Italy. They never know what side they should be on.
I’m glad Czech lands fixed that before I migrated here.
Let's be honest, Italy is still mixed.
Germany drives on the reich
I'm 102% sure Romania did not own that part of Transnistria in 1922.
Drive on the left,drive on the right… crisscross!
OC - u/bezzleford [Original posting](https://old.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/8zjlcp/driving_direction_in_europe_1922_oc_916_x_978/)
Back in the 1970s the UK had drawn up a plan to shift to driving on the right side. After much study and preparations, like Sweden, all cars were to be switched to driving on the right side overnight. This would require a Herculean effort. 6 months of followup study would be performed to determine whether the accident level was acceptable, and if so, then all trucks and buses would be switched over too.
Gibraltar would be blue
Scary that all these people correcting you in the comments are able to vote
I am not surprised Italy picked up “Mixed”. 🤣
LEFT BOYYYYS
And here I thought that was a joke about Italy’s traffic mayhem :-)
Just inform you that in Italy we drive in the middle of the road..so no need to keep the right or left hand... =))) ahahahaahahah
Since when trafic laws in Czech Republic changed?! WHAT THE FUCK?! EDIT:i just googled did not know that lol, something new.
“is it just me or I get mass anxiety when I’m making a right turn in a lefty world” - Right Hand Driver
This “mixed” area … hmmm, let’s just say one can feel the heritage
So many people didn’t read the entire title of the graphic. 1922
MIXED?!!
As a Croatian, I nearly had a heart attack before I noticed the 1922
Fun fact: despite Sweden changing in 1967, it’s rail is still on the left!