Roslagsbanan

Roslagsbanan
A train arrives at Viggbyholm on Roslagsbanan
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
Locale	Sweden
Termini	Stockholm
Daily ridership	42,000 per workday
Operation
Opened	1885
Owner	Storstockholms Lokaltrafik
Technical
Line length	65 km (40.39 mi)
No. of tracks	1 or 2
Track gauge	891 mm (2 ft 11 1⁄10 in)
Electrification	1500 V DC
Operating speed	80 km/h (50 mph)

Roslagsbanan is an 891 mm (2 ft 11 ¹⁄₁₀ in) (three Swedish feet) narrow-gauge urban railway system in Stockholm County, Sweden. Its combined route length is 65 kilometres (40 miles) and there are 39 stations. The line starts in Stockholm at Stockholms östra. It goes north and splits into three branch lines, terminating in Näsbypark, Österskär and Kårsta. It has double track between Stockholm and Viggbyholm, Åkers Runö and Åkersberga. The rest is single track. The railway is owned by the Stockholm county through Storstockholms Lokaltrafik, and is not a part of the nationally owned network.

Roslagsbanan is part of the Stockholm public transport system. It is operated under contract by Roslagståg AB, a joint venture by the Danish DSB and Tågkompaniet. The railway is quite popular considering its age and capacity. There are fifteen departures from Stockholms östra at afternoon rush hour, with a total ridership of 42,000 journeys per day.

History

Old station of Stocksund

Roslagsbanan is one of the oldest electrified railway line for public transportation in Europe. The first parts of what became the large narrow gauge Roslagsbanan system were inaugurated in 1876 as the Uppsala-Lenna railroad. In 1885 the main line from Stockholm to Rimbo opened. The first Stockholm - Djursholm suburban part was electrified in 1892. In the beginning of the 20th century Djursholms Ösby, a station on Roslagsbanan, was one of the busiest train stations in Sweden with a train stopping every three minutes and three different lines dividing from there. Roslagsbanan at its largest covered large parts of Roslagen, whereof its name. The Stockholm County council took over the southern network (Stockholm- Rimbo) for passenger use only in 1969 from SJ with the newly formed SL. The Djursholm branch was closed in 1976. The northern network (Uppsala-Rimbo and Rimbo-Hallstavik) was kept for freight use only by SJ. In 1977 the most northern line, Dannemora-Hargshamn which was already turned into a normal gauge freight line (1970), was extended to Hallstavik and the remaining northern narrow gauge network was abandoned and dismantled.

Political interests wanted since long to close down the whole network in favor of subway and busses, much against public opinion. After a referendum in 1980 the County Council decided to save Roslagsbanan and invest in new trains and modernize the infrastructure and formed a new company SLJ to run Roslagsbanan. Rimbo - Kårsta was closed in 1981. In January 2010 the station "Freskati" was closed to avoid congestion and the station "Universitetet" was moved 500 metres (550 yards) north to better serve the Stockholm University.

The oldest line, Uppsala-Lenna is kept as an heritage railway with tourist traffic in summertime.

Future

Works are going on to beat congestion and intensify the traffic on the biggest lines serving the suburbs Täby and Vallentuna. New double track sections are built. The plan are to have double track to Åkersberga and to Vallentuna in 2014. There are plans to upgrade the current maximum speed of 80 to 120 km/h (50 to 75 mph). New trains are needed for the traffic increase which are expected to be delivered in 2014.

A feasibility study into extending Roslagsbanan to Arlanda Airport is currently under way, in order to better connect the northern suburbs to the airport.

Network

Roslagsbanan
Geographically accurate system map
Locale	Stockholm County, Sweden
Dates of operation	1885–present
Track gauge	891 mm (2 ft 11 1⁄10 in)
Electrification	yes, 1500 V DC
Length	65 km or 40.4 mi
Headquarters	Stockholm, Sweden

SL southern network

• Stockholms östra–Djursholms Ösby–Roslags Näsby–Vallentuna–Lindholmen–Kårsta (opened 1885)
• Stockholms östra–Djursholms Ösby–Roslags Näsby–Åkersberga–Österskär (opened 1901 to Åkersberga, 1906 to Österskär)
• Stockholms östra–Djursholms Ösby–Näsbypark (opened 1928 to Lahäll and 1937 to Näsbypark)

Line	Stretch	Length	Stations
27	Stockholms östra – Kårsta	41.5 km	23
28	Stockholms östra – Österskär	29.5 km	20
29	Stockholms östra – Näsbypark	11.5 km	12
Total		65 km	39

Northern network

• Uppsala–Länna–Faringe (Opened in 1876 to Länna, 1885 to Faringe); Tourist traffic only, see Upsala-Lenna Jernväg.
• Dannemora–Gimo–Hargshamn–Hallstavik (Opened 1878; Dannemora–Hargshamn turned to normal gauge in the 1970s and extended in to Hallstavik 1977; SJ freight only).

Closed network

• Faringe-Gimo (1921–1960)
• Rimbo-Norrtälje (1884–1969)
• Uppsala-Rimbo-Hallstavik (1884–1977)
• Stocksund-Långängen (1915-normal gauge tram) line, then turned to narrow gauge in 1934, closed in 1966)
• Stockholm östra stn-Engelbrektsplan (1895–1960)
• Djursholms Ösby-Edddavägen (1890–1977)
• Kårsta-Rimbo (1885–1981)

Current rolling stock

X10p at Stockholm Östra station with UBp och UBxp

The new Trainsets are manufactured by ABB Railcar (nowadays Bombardier) and delivered 1988–1995. The trainsets are owned by SL, but maintained and operated by Roslagståg.

• Motor coach X10p Number of vehicles: 35, Seating capacity: 72, Length: 19.9 metres, Weight: 27.7 tonnes, Power rating: 400 kW (540 hp), Maximum speed: 80 km/h (50 mph)
• Manoeuver carriage UBxp Number of vehicles: 34, Seating Capacity: 76, Length: 19.9 metres (65 ft 3 in), Weight: 16.3 tonnes (16 long tons; 18 short tons)
• Bogie carriage UBp Number of vehicles: 32, Seating Capacity: 80, Length: 19.9 metres (65 ft 3 in), Weight: 16 tonnes (15.7 long tons; 17.6 short tons)

In 2010, SL began the process of finding company from which to order modern trains to meet the rising demand for departures on Roslagsbanan.

Stockholm Ö During Wintertime

Pictures

• 

  Old bridge of Stocksund, dismantled in 1997

• 

  New bridge of Stocksund, inaugurated in 1996, with the new station on the other side of the tunnel

• 

  Train at Rydbo

• 

  Stockholms östra/Stockholm East Station and the entrance to the Stockholm Metro

• 

  Platforms at Östra station

See also

• History of rail transport in Sweden
• Public transport in Stockholm
• Rail transport in Sweden

External links

• PDF map of all SL rail lines
• Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (Stockholm Transport) - Official site (English)
• Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (Stockholm Transport) - Official site (Swedish)
• Järnväg.net - Roslagsbanan (Swedish)