Public transport in Stockholm

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A metro train at Gamla stan station
An icy commuter train
A city bus at Sergels torg
Heritage tram on the Djurgården line
Modern tram on Spårväg City line 7 at Sergels torg

Public transport in Stockholm consists of bus, metro, regional/suburban rail, light rail, tram and archipelago boat operation in Stockholm County, Sweden. The bus and rail is organized by Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (Stockholm Transport, literally: Greater Stockholm Public Transport),[1] SL, which is owned by the Stockholm County Council. The operation and maintenance of the public transport systems are delegated by SL to several contractors. The boat traffic is handled by Waxholmsbolaget.[2]

The airport rapid public transport systems are handled separately though, with Flygbussarna[3] providing airport bus services, and Arlanda Express[4] an airport train service.

Transport systems[edit]

Bus[edit]

There is a vast number of bus lines in Stockholm County. There are three different kinds of bus lines that differ from regular bus lines.

  • Inner-city blue bus lines
  • Suburban blue bus lines
  • Service bus lines

The blue bus are in the inner city variant trunk lines traversing large parts of the Stockholm inner city, and in the suburban variant acting as important feeder lines between the suburbs and public transport hubs in central Stockholm, or providing crossway connections between suburbs. These are called blue bus lines because the buses that operate on them are painted blue, in contrast to the red color of the regular buses.[5] The service bus lines are especially adapted for elderly people, and are found in certain residential areas. Along some parts of these lines instead of regular bus stops there are areas where one can halt the bus just by waving at them.

Blue bus lines[edit]

Line Route
1 Frihamnen – HötorgetFridhemsplanStora Essingen
2 NorrtullOdenplanSlussenSofia
3 SödersjukhusetSlussenFridhemsplanKarolinska Hospital
4 GullmarsplanFridhemsplanEast Station – Radiohuset
172 NorsborgHuddingeHögdalenSkarpnäck
173 SkärholmenÄlvsjöBandhagenSkarpnäck
176 Mörby station – SolnaEkerö centre – Stenhamra
177 Mörby station – Solna – Tappström – Skärvik
178 Mörby station – Helenelund station – KistaJakobsberg station
179 Sollentuna station – KistaSpånga station – Vällingby
471 SlussenNackaOrminge centre – West Orminge
474 SlussenGustavsberg centre – Ålstäket – Hemmesta
670 East StationDanderyds sjukhusVaxholm
676 East StationDanderyds sjukhusNorrtälje
802 Gullmarsplan – Granängsringen – Tyresö centre
873 GullmarsplanTyresö centre – Nyfors
875 GullmarsplanTyresö centreTyresö church

Metro[edit]

Main article: Stockholm Metro

The Stockholm Metro consists of three groups of lines, which are each referred to as a singular line.

Name Lines Stretch Length Stations
Blue line 10, 11 KungsträdgårdenHjulsta/Akalla 25.5 km 20
Red line 13, 14 Norsborg/FruängenRopsten/Mörby centrum 41.2 km 36
Green line 17, 18, 19 Åkeshov/Alvik/Hässelby strandSkarpnäck/Farsta strand/Hagsätra 41.3 km 49

The Stockholm metro has been called 'the world's longest art gallery',[6] with most of the network's 100 stations decorated with sculptures, mosaics, paintings, installations, engravings and reliefs.

Suburban rail[edit]

There are three suburban rail systems, with eight lines. Roslagsbanan uses an 891 mm narrow gauge, the others use standard gauge.

Name Lines Stretch Length Stations
Saltsjöbanan 25, 26 SlussenSaltsjöbaden; IgelbodaSolsidan 18.5 km 18
Roslagsbanan 27, 28, 29 Stockholm East StationNäsbypark/Österskär/Kårsta 65.0 km 39
Commuter rail (Pendeltåg) 35 Bålsta – Stockholm – Nynäshamn 107 km 27
Commuter rail (Pendeltåg) 36 Märsta – Stockholm – Södertälje 74 km 24
Commuter rail (Pendeltåg) 37 SödertäljeGnesta 30 km 6
Commuter rail (Pendeltåg) 38 (Tumba) - Älvsjö – Stockholm - Arlanda - Uppsala 46 km 21

Regional and intercity rail[edit]

There are regional and InterCity trains going on the mainlines between Stockholm and cities outside the county. These cities include Uppsala, Gävle, Eskilstuna, Linköping, Västerås. These train are run by SJ on their own, and SJ tickets or special combination tickets called TiM (SJ+SL) are valid. The trains are run for a profit by SJ, without tax support. This is possible by having relatively expensive monthly tickets, for example about 2000 kr Stockholm-Uppsala (SL not included).

Light rail and tram[edit]

Main article: Trams in Stockholm

There is one heritage tram line operational, Djurgården line.[7] The infrastructure is owned by SL, but the cars are owned and operated by the Swedish Tramway Society. All SL fares are valid.[8]

There are three regular light rail lines and one inner city tram line in Stockholm and only two of them, Nockebybanan and the new Tvärbanan are connected and share depot and rolling stock. The LRV primarily used on these lines are a localized version of Bombardier's Flexity Swift; Urbos trams have also been ordered.[9]

Name Line Stretch Length Stops
Spårväg city 7 Sergels torgWaldemarsudde 3.2 km 12
Nockebybanan 12 NockebyAlvik 5.7 km 10
Lidingöbanan 21 RopstenGåshaga brygga 9.2 km 14
Tvärbanan 22 Sickla uddeSolna station 18.2 km 25

Boat[edit]

There are several Stockholm archipelago boat lines in Stockholm County, run by Waxholmsbolaget. Some of them operate year around.

One boat line, Djurgårdsfärjan, goes in central Stockholm, between Slussen and Djurgården. The SL tickets and travelcards are valid on that one, but not on any other Waxholmsbolaget routes.

Airport transport[edit]

The rapid public transport to and from the airports in Stockholm are handled a bit separately than the regular land based public transport as handled by SL, thus they have their own tickets and pricing structure. It is also possible to take regular public transport to and from the airports, but that typically means one has to change between some buses or trains and the trip takes more time.

Arlanda Express[edit]

Main article: Arlanda Express

Arlanda Express provides an airport rail link service to and from the Stockholm-Arlanda Airport.

The typical ticket price between Stockholm and Arlanda Airport for an adult is 240 SEK,[10] and the trip takes 20 minutes.

Flygbussarna[edit]

Main article: Flygbussarna

Flygbussarna provides an airport bus service to and from all four airports associated with Stockholm: Stockholm-Arlanda Airport, Stockholm-Bromma Airport, Stockholm-Skavsta Airport, and Stockholm-Västerås Airport.

The ticket price between Stockholm central bus terminal (T-Centralen) and Arlanda Airport for an adult is 139 SEK,[11] and the trip takes 40–50 minutes.

Local Bus and Pendeltåg[edit]

Arlanda is since 2012 served by the commuter train (Pendeltåg) to the Stockholm central railway station. If you need to go elsewhere in Stockholm or catch a train elsewhere, you can do it at Stockholm central railway station. The Stockholm subway system (Tunnelbana or T-bana as it is known locally) also connects there. Don't get confused, because the railway part of the station is called Stockholm Central while the subway stop there is called T-Centralen. T-Centralen is an easy walk from the railway part of the station underground so you need not worry about the weather. The subway system is extensive and also connects to the local bus system. You can use several different types of tickets to use the entire system without paying again and again. You can purchase single trip zonal tickets which are good for an hour after you first start, though they often give you at least an extra 15 minutes on top of that, buy a strip ticket which works like a zonal ticket though more than one person can use it at once, and there are travelcards for various time periods from one day to annual tickets that can also be used by more than once person, though—unlike the strip ticket—not at once. Also, if you qualify because of being a senior or some other reduction status, you can purchase all of these tickets at a substantial discount to the regulare tickets. All of these are available at the Pressbyrån store in the Sky City part of Arlanda. You cannot purchase these tickets at the Pressbyrån store in the arrival area. From Monday through Friday, the Sky City Pressbyrån store is open at 7 am, coinciding with many early arriving international flights. On Saturday and Sunday, it does not open until 9 am. This route takes about 15 minutes to get to Märsta and then another 45 minutes to get to Stockholm Central. It is by far the least expensive way to go from Arlanda to Stockholm. Up-to-date prices can be found from [www.sl.se] also in English. It starts out in Swedish but you can choose Visitor and see it in English.

Tickets[edit]

By one measure—single ticket price for a 10-kilometre (6.2 mi) journey—Stockholm has the most expensive-to-use public transport in the world, as of March 2009.[12]

SL's tickets[edit]

SL has two main forms of tickets. Both are used for all SL public transport within Stockholm County. [13]

  • Travel card — valid during a specified period of time, from 24 hours up to a year, depending on the card.
  • Single-use ticket — valid for 75 minutes from activation, within Stockholm County. Single-use tickets are mainly purchased with credits loaded onto an SL Access card.

In either case, the ticket is loaded onto an SL Access RFID card that is scanned at the start of each journey.

Regardless of the ticket used, journeys by the Stockholm Commuter Rail Pendeltåg to Arlanda Airport, or crossing the county border to Uppsala and Knivsta, incur additional costs. The additional cost for using the railway station at Arlanda airport is 120 SEK (can be paid upon arrival) (as of February 2017). Travelling to Uppsala or Knivsta with SL from Stockholm County requires a valid Uppsala County (UL) ticket in addition to the usual SL ticket.

SL Access RFID card used to hold tickets.

SL's ticket prices[edit]

The prices for the most common tickets are as follows.[14] The reduced price is for persons under the age of 20, or over the age of 65.

Single-use ticket
Purchase method Full price Reduced price
SL credits ("reskassa") 30 SEK 20 SEK
Text-mesage ticket, single-time ticket etc. 43 SEK 29 SEK
Purchased by conductor 60 SEK 40 SEK
 
Travel cards
Card name Full price Reduced price
24-hour card 120 SEK 80 SEK
72-hour card 240 SEK 160 SEK
7-day card 315 SEK 210 SEK
30-day card 830 SEK 550 SEK
90-day card 2,420 SEK 1,600 SEK
365-day card 8,720 SEK 5,840 SEK
 

In addition, there are tickets available for school students under 20 years old, as well as tickets valid both for SL and UL.

Waxholmsbolaget's tickets[edit]

With the Waxholmsbolaget archipelago boats the ticket structure is essentially

  • Cash ticket paid on board, price dependent on trip length
  • 30-day period cards

On the Djurgården ferry line (Djurgårdsfärjan) between Slussen and Djurgården, only the SL travel cards are valid.

Arlanda Express tickets[edit]

The Arlanda Express train between Stockholm central station and Arlanda airport has its own relatively expensive tickets. The normal price is 280 SEK one way. Tickets can be bought in vending machines near the platform, or electronic tickets on the internet. They can be bought on board the train for a 100 kr surcharge. There are discounts for children, students and retired people. There are multi-journey tickets, and a one-year tickets for unlimited travel.

Contractors[edit]

SL does not themselves directly operate any traffic, instead all the traffic is handled by contractors. The contractors used by SL are as of May 2015 the following:

Rolling Stock[edit]

  1. SL Metro Train
  2. SL Commuter Train

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Stockholm Transport - in English
  2. ^ Waxholmsbolaget
  3. ^ Flygbussarna Airport Coaches
  4. ^ Arlanda Express
  5. ^ "Blåbussarna". AB Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. Archived from the original on 2007-02-21. Retrieved 2007-04-21. 
  6. ^ Art Discussion website 'Twisted Sifter'
  7. ^ "The Djurgården line no 7:". Swedish Tramway Society. Retrieved 2007-05-18. 
  8. ^ "The Djurgården line no 7N: Fares". Swedish Tramway Society. Retrieved 2011-07-21. 
  9. ^ "CAF wins Urbos tram contracts". Retrieved 2011-04-01. 
  10. ^ "Prices". Arlanda Express. Retrieved 2007-05-18. 
  11. ^ "Fares". Flygbussarna Airport Coaches. Archived from the original on 2007-03-22. Retrieved 2007-05-18. 
  12. ^ "A fare price?". The Economist. September 24, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-24. In Stockholm it costs $4.88 for a single journey of 10km on public transport, the highest cost in a study of 73 cities by UBS, a Swiss bank. 
  13. ^ "Prislista 2017". AB Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. Retrieved 2016-12-28. 
  14. ^ "Prislista 2017". AB Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. Retrieved 2016-12-28. 
  15. ^ "AB Stockholms Spårvägar". AB Stockholms Spårvägar. 
  16. ^ "Arriva". Arriva Sverige AB. 
  17. ^ "Busslink". AB Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. Archived from the original on December 20, 2008. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
  18. ^ "MTR". AB Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. Retrieved 2010-01-25. [dead link]
  19. ^ "Nobina". AB Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. Archived from the original on December 20, 2008. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
  20. ^ "Stockholmståg". AB Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. Archived from the original on December 20, 2008. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 

External links[edit]