Rail transport in Sweden

Rail transport in Sweden uses a network of 13,000 km of track, the 20th largest in the world. Construction of the first railway line in Sweden began in 1855. The major operator is the state-owned SJ AB.

Operators

The monopoly of the state owned railway operator has to some extent been cancelled. Major national passenger train operators SJ AB (usually just called SJ), and the cargo transport operator, Green Cargo, are both fully owned by the state. A private company Tågkompaniet operates in central Sweden, and there are a number of regional companies. Tram systems are used in Gothenburg, Norrköping and Stockholm. There is a metro system in Stockholm, the Stockholm Metro.

SJ Electric Multiple Unit at Nyköping

SJ has a monopoly to operate passenger trains where they can be run profitable from a commercial point of view. This is mostly the case for X2000 trains and some regional trains around Stockholm. Most other railways are not profitable. Average speed is an important factor regarding profitability (more distance per hour means more income per hour). For regional trains (within one county or up to about 100 km distance) the counties buy traffic by signing a contract with an operator. The operator is often SJ, but sometimes another operator, either Swedish or from one of the other EU countries, provides the service. For these regional trains the county transport authority sells tickets. For long-distance trains (i.e., longer than the regional trains) that are not profitable, a national authority "Rikstrafiken" signs a contract with an operator to move traffic on each line (Public Service Obligation). In this case each operator markets and sell tickets. The operator for unprofitable services usually rents trains from the county transport authority or a special state organisation. This is because trains are expensive, take from two to three years to buy (from tender to delivery), and are hard to sell if the operator loses the contract. However, for the SJ monopoly traffic, SJ usually own the trains.

A decision was made in March 2009 to cancel the monopoly for SJ. Already in the autumn 2009 free competition will be allowed on Saturdays and Sundays when there is more room on the tracks, and to a full extent all days in the autumn 2010.

Rail traffic is supervised by the Banverket (Swedish National Rail Administration), a government agency.

History

The first Swedish railroad for public transport using horse-drawn carriages, the Frykstads railroad in Värmland was opened in 1849.

In 1853 the Swedish Parliament decided that the state would build main line railways, but that other lines would be built by private enterprises, and in 1856 the first stretch, between Örebro and Nora, was opened for traffic.

The main line railways were of major importance for the development of the Swedish industry. The first two main line railways were the Southern, stretching from Stockholm to Malmö in the south, and the Western, to Gothenburg in the west. These line railways were finished between 1860-1864. The Northern railway runs parallel to the Baltic coast (but not along it) up to Boden in northern Sweden, and was finished in 1894. The Inland Railway runs from Gällivare in the north to Kristinehamn in the center of the country, through the central parts of northern Sweden, and was built between 1908-1937.

The construction of the early main lines provided a fast and safe connection from the mines in the north to the rest of Sweden. It also facilitated business (and private) travel, which had earlier required horse-drawn carriages.

Main Line railways built in Sweden between 1860-1930.

Network

• Total: 12,821 km (includes 3,594 km of privately owned railways)
• standard gauge: 12,821 km of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+¹⁄₂ in) gauge (7,918 km electrified and 1,152 km double track (1998)
• narrow gauge: 221 km of 891 mm (2 ft 11.1 in) gauge (2001)

Main lines

There used to be six main lines (stambanor), all nationally owned:

• Västra stambanan (Western main line), 453 km, Stockholm-Gothenburg through Katrineholm-Hallsberg-Laxå-Falköping
• Södra stambanan (Southern main line), 381 km, Malmö-Falköping through Nässjö-Jönköping
• Östra stambanan (Eastern main line), 216 km, Nässjö-Katrineholm through Mjölby-Linköping-Norrköping)
• Norra stambanan (Northern main line), 484 km, Stockholm-Ånge through Uppsala-Avesta Krylbo
• Stambanan genom övre Norrland (Main line through upper Norrland), 629 km, Bräcke-Boden through Långsele-Vännäs
• Nordvästra stambanan (Northwestern main line), 209 km, Laxå-Norwegian border through Karlstad-Kil-Charlottenberg

Also these lines have for a period been called main lines:

• Mittbanan (Norrland cross line), about 500 km, Sundsvall-Norwegian border through Ånge-Östersund
• Inlandsbanan, about 1300 km, Kristinehamn-Gällivare through Mora-Östersund

The principle was that the main lines were built by the state, but all others by private companies, often owned by cities to support their local need. In the period 1930-1950 most lines were purchased by the state, making the main line term less well defined.

Today, changes have been made in the terminology making the number of main lines four. The northwestern main line is not considered a main line anymore and is renamed Värmlandsbanan. The southern main line between Nässjö and Falköping is also degraded since now what was the Eastern main line (Nässjö - Katrineholm) is considered a part of the southern one. The Norrland cross line is not a main line anymore, but a regional railway. Finally the northern main line south of Ockelbo refers to another and shorter way than that through Avesta. Sometimes the Ostkustbanan Stockholm-Sundsvall is now considererd a main line, since it has the majority of the passenger traffic into Norrland. Inlandsbanan was considered a main line for a few decades, but is now a tourist railway only. The main lines are still owned by the state, except Inlandsbanan which is owned by the counties.

Railway links with adjacent countries

• Denmark - yes - Öresund bridge - same gauge - voltage change 15kVAC/25kVAC And train ferry Goteborg - Frederikshavn.
• Finland - yes, but break-of-gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+¹⁄₂ in)/1,524 mm (5 ft)  (short dual gauge track between the two stations closest to the border, without overhead lines. train ferry Stockholm - Turku (Finland).
• Germany - yes - train ferry - same gauge - no electric propulsion onboard. train ferry Malmo - Travemunde. Trelleborg - Sassnitz(Mukran). Trelleborg - Rostock.
• Norway - yes - same gauge - same voltage (three electric lines and one non-electric)
• Poland - Yes, train ferry Ystad - Swinoujscie - same gauge - no electric propulsion onboard.
• Some of the train ferries and routes.^[1]

Swedish railway network

Current lines

See also

• Rail transport by country
• High-speed rail in Sweden
• Transportation in Sweden
• Roslagsbanan, the oldest electrified railway line for personnel transportation in northern Europe.
• Malmbanan, railway line between Luleå, Sweden, and Narvik, Norway. Inaugurated on July 14, 1903. The stretch between Kiruna and Riksgränsen was the first major railway line in Sweden to be electrified in 1915.

References

1. ^ Scandlines

External links

• Banverket - The Swedish Railway Infrastructure Agency - Official page
• A presentation of the Swedish railway network, with map at the Swedish Railway Infrastructure Agency home page
• History of the railways at the Swedish Railway Infrastructure Agency home page
• Official site of Swedish Railways, Statens järnvägars
• For Eurail and Sweden Rail Passes
• Search engine for all public transport inside Sweden
• Sweden Eurail Pass & Eurorail