Stockholm commuter rail

Stockholm commuter rail
Background
Owner	Storstockholms Lokaltrafik / Swedish Transport Administration
Locale	Stockholm County
Transit type	Commuter rail
Number of lines	3
Number of stations	50
Daily ridership	230,000
Operation
Began operation	1967
Operator(s)	Stockholmståg (SJ AB)
Train length	100–214 metres (330–702 ft)
Headway	4 - 30 (120) minutes
Technical
System length	200 km (124 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (standard gauge)
Average speed	59 km/h (37 mph)
Top speed	160 km/h (99 mph)

Stockholm commuter rail (Swedish: Stockholms pendeltåg) is the commuter rail system in Stockholm County, Sweden. The system is an important part of the public transport in Stockholm, and is controlled by Stockholm Transport; the trains are operated under contract by Stockholmståg. The tracks are state-owned and administered by the Swedish Transport Administration.

History

Local trains have been operated on the railways around Stockholm since the late nineteenth century. At the beginning, local rail services were part of the Swedish State Railways, but in 1967, the responsibility for these services was transferred to Stockholm County, which incorporated it with the ticketing system of Stockholm Transport. New trains were bought, stations were modernised, and the Stockholm commuter rail network was developed with an aim of making it more metro-like.

Ice covered old train (X1)

During the years 1986 to 1996, important improvements were made to the railways around Stockholm. Single-track stretches were upgraded to double tracks, and some double-track stretches were upgraded to four-track, allowing the commuter trains to run with less interference from other rail services. The service frequency was gradually increased, and from 2001 most stations on the network are served by trains at regular 15-minute intervals, with additional trains during rush hours.

The latest extension to the commuter rail network is the outer stretch between Kungsängen and Bålsta which was opened in 2001. An in-fill station at Årstaberg was inaugurated in 2006, in order to connect with the then-new Tvärbanan light-rail system.

New type X60 trains have been delivered since 2005

Operation of the Stockholm commuter rail lines has been contracted to private companies since 2000. The network is currently operated by Stockholmståg, a subsidiary of SJ AB, the former Swedish State Railways company.

Lines

Stockholm commuter rail

Märsta J36 Rosersberg Upplands Väsby Rotebro Norrviken Häggvik Sollentuna Helenelund Ulriksdal Solna Bålsta J35 Bro Kungsängen Kallhäll Jakobsberg Barkarby Spånga Sundbyberg Citybanan north end Karlberg Odenplan Stockholm C Citybanan south end Stockholms södra Årstaberg Älvsjö Farsta strand Trångsund Skogås Handen Jordbro Västerhaninge Krigslida Tungelsta Hemfosa Segersäng Ösmo Nynäsgård Gröndalsviken Nynäshamn J35 Stuvsta Huddinge Flemingsberg Tullinge Tumba Rönninge Östertälje Södertälje centrumJ36 J37 Södertälje hamn Södertälje syd Järna Mölnbo Gnesta J37

Line	Stretch	Travel time	Length	Stations
J35	Bålsta – Västerhaninge – Nynäshamn	1:44	107 km	27
J36	Märsta – Södertälje centrum	1:21	74 km	24
J37	Södertälje centrum – Gnesta	0:31	30 km	6
Entire commuter rail system			200 km	50

There are three lines in the Stockholm commuter rail system. There are two long lines across the county which run through central Stockholm: route J35 runs from Nynäshamn in the southeast to Bålsta in the northwest, and J36 connects Södertälje in the southwest with Märsta in the north. The shorter route J37 in the southwest connects Gnesta to Södertälje. The total track length of the system is 200 kilometers (120 mi).

Because of the short station platforms and the lack of passing loops on the single-track portion of the Nynäs railway south of Västerhaninge, a train change takes place in Västerhaninge, so that Västerhaninge-Nynäshamn is in reality its own line. Platform lengthening and the construction of passing loops are planned to be completed in the fall of 2008. However, the line will probably remain divided for some time, in order to sustain a higher level of punctuality in the more central parts of the network.

Trains operate every 30 minutes from 5 am to 1 am every day, with 15-minute intervals during the daytime. Additional trains during rush hours give an average of 7½ minutes intervals for many stations, and trains every 4 minutes on the central parts. Line J37 and outer parts of line J35 are served less frequently, with up to two hours between trains on weekends.

Most trains stop at all intermediate stations, except a few trains during rush hours that skip some smaller stations. 230,000 passengers use Stockholm commuter trains on an ordinary weekday (counting connecting passengers double). This is almost half of the total number of train passengers in Sweden, the metro and trams not included.

Stations

There are 50 stations in the network, two of which are beyond the borders of Stockholm County. Eight stations connect with regional and long-distance trains, one connects with the light-rail tram system Tvärbanan, and three stations have access to the Stockholm metro. Several stations are important interchanges to local buses.

Most stations are of a similar style, with an island platform in a ground-level location with one or two exits, turnstiles, and a staffed ticket office. A few interchange stations have multiple platforms. The stations south of Västerhaninge and Södertälje are smaller, and have no ticket vending facilities; passengers buy their tickets from the train conductor on these parts of the network.

Stockholm Central Station is by far the biggest station in the network, the largest railway station in Scandinavia, with more than 50,000 boarding commuter rail passengers per day. This is the main station if changing from long-distance trains or from the metro. The smallest station is Hemfosa, which has approximately 75 boarding passengers per day.

The stations are marked with a J symbol, which just stands for the generic term "järnvägsstation" (i.e. railway station) and is similar to the T symbol used by the Stockholm underground railway stations ("tunnelbanestation").

The ten busiest stations (number of boarding passengers on a normal winter weekday 2005):

#	Station	Boarding passengers
1.	Stockholm C	53 800
2.	Stockholms södra	16 200
3.	Älvsjö	12 100
4.	Karlberg	10 600
5.	Jakobsberg	10 300
6.	Flemingsberg	9 500
7.	Sundbyberg	7 600
8.	Sollentuna	7 400
9.	Södertälje centrum	7 100
10.	Tumba	6 800

Rolling stock

Three types of rolling stock are currently used on the commuter rail network. The oldest type, X1, was built between 1967 and 1975, and was complemented by a second-generation train, X10, delivered between 1982 and 1993. X1 and X10 units are 50 meters (160 ft) long and are completely compatible with each other. A train consists of two to four units, making the train 100–200 meters long.

The older stock is currently being replaced by new type X60 Coradia Lirex trains from Alstom. The first was delivered in 2005, and a total of 71 units will be delivered through 2008. A full-length train with two X60 units measures 214 metres (702 ft). Their maximum speed is 160 km/h (99 mph).

Future expansions

The new line will remove commuter trains from the central line through Stockholm.

The Swedish Rail Administration has approved the construction of a rail tunnel through central Stockholm, with a planned opening date in 2017. This new tunnel, known as Citybanan (‘the city line’), is intended for the exclusive use of the Pendeltåg system, and would split commuter traffic onto separate tracks from long-distance trains while traveling through the city. This would ease the rail systems' congestion problems, and permit Stockholm Transport to schedule more frequent service. Construction of the Citybanan began in 2008. It would also allow more frequent service for other trains, increasing the capacity for large parts of the Swedish rail network since many trains go to and from Stockholm.

In December 2007, reports emerged about a potential future extension of the Stockholm commuter rail system to Stockholm-Arlanda Airport; at present, the airport has an express service from Stockholm C, but at least one change is required to reach it from any other station. Though Stockholm Transport reacted positively to the idea, the implementation of any such project is subject to successful negotiations between Stockholm Transport and Arlanda Express, who already operate the direct train from Stockholm Central Station to the airport, and have operating rights for the tracks involved. There is already a county-operated train system stopping at Arlanda, it is the Upptåget system run by the Uppsala County (although the airport is in the Stockholm County), and the railway operator or the Arlanda railway station claims 75 SEK extra from each Upptåget passenger using the airport station. The same fee can be expected if SL runs trains there. It is the railway and station owner who demands that fee to exist, which shall pay for its construction.

See also

• List of suburban and commuter rail systems
• Public transport in Stockholm

References

• Banverket (2007) (in Swedish). Linjebok Stockholms trafikledningsområde (Utgåva 4, ätr 4 ed.). BVF 646.4. 
• "Tekniska fakta - pendeltåg" (in Swedish). Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. Archived from the original on 2007-02-21. http://web.archive.org/web/20070221032545/http://www.sl.se/templates/Page.aspx?id=1640. Retrieved 2007-07-10. 
• "Pendeltågen i Stockholms län : Historisk bakgrund och utveckling 1957-2003" (in Swedish). Regionplane- och trafikkontoret, Stockholms läns landsting. 2003-12-09. http://www.rtk.sll.se/publikationer/promemorior/2003/pm_24-2003.pdf. 
• "Fakta om SL och länet år 2005" (in Swedish). Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. 2006-05-18. http://sl.se/Upload/rapporter/uploads/000023206/SL%20Fakta%202005.pdf. 
• (in Swedish) Stockholm commuter rail timetables. Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. 2007.  J35 J36 J37

External links

Media related to Stockholms pendeltåg at Wikimedia Commons

• Stockholm Transport - official website
• Map of all Stockholm Transport rail lines