I rode London's famous Underground system for a week — and I saw why New York's subway will never catch up

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It was the summer of hell, and I needed some relief.

To take a break from the swamp that New York City becomes in the summer, I took a week-long trip to the sunny paradise of London for a well-deserved vacation.

OK, fine. London may not be that sunny, but it is a transportation paradise. When comparing it to New York, anyway, London seems like a city that actually cares about its public transportation. Its trains run often, its buses have a priority network, and there's even a congestion charge for private cars driving in the city center, which feeds money back into the transportation projects.

Things are not so great in New York right now. The state and city are in an interminable battle to escape blame for the crumbling infrastructure that millions of New Yorkers rely on every day. But some fixes being suggested now, like congestion charging, have already been at work in London for years.

I decided my vacation would be a good opportunity to see how London's public transportation system works. Not once did I get stuck in a tunnel or even have to wait longer than four minutes for a train — and with countdown clocks at every station, I always knew when the next train was coming. I also never had to detour because of track work, which is done overnight in London.

I think it's best summarized in the status update you hear over the PA system every so often in the Underground: "There is good service on all London Underground lines." You definitely don't hear that every day in New York.

While New York often uses the age of its system as an excuse, I saw how London overcame its ancient architecture — some of which dates back to the mid-19th century — to build a modern transportation system. Honestly, it felt strange to be in a city where the denizens didn't constantly gripe about how long it took to get wherever they were.

Here's a sample journey I made, which I think highlights what makes London so much easier to get around.

After making a few quick east-west trips on the Underground, I decided to put it to the test by going some distance. I was going to visit a friend in a northern part of London. This was a bit of a trip: about five miles through the city center, or a 40-minute drive according to Google Maps.

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To get to Stoke Newington from Waterloo via transit, I could have taken a bus. As nice as the buses are in London, that didn't seem appealing. Another option was to take the Underground as well as the Overground. It said it would take me 40 minutes — not bad!

The Overground operates a lot like a normal subway, with some elements of a commuter rail. The trains are wider but shorter, and they travel mostly above ground on the outskirts of the city. I was worried about how easy it would be to catch one, but I decided to take my chances.

Business Insider/Dennis Green

Nearly every journey on London transportation starts with an Oyster card. I started mine at Waterloo station with the plan to take the Victoria line eastbound. In London, you pay a fare that fluctuates according to the zones you travel through. Since I didn't leave Zone 1, I still paid less than £3, even though I went on two separate systems.

Business Insider/Dennis Green

A £5 deposit gets you an Oyster card to use for as long as you need — it never expires. You can also turn it in and receive a refund for the £5 you paid, plus any remaining balance on it.

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