Malmö Central Station

Malmö Central Station (Swedish: Malmö centralstation) is a terminus railway station on the Southern Main Line in Malmö, Sweden opened in 1876. It serves approximately 55 000 passengers every day, making it the second busiest in Sweden behind Stockholm Central Station

History

Malmö Station was first opened in 1856, coinciding with the opening of the Malmö–Lund railway. At the time, the area was considered the outer edge of the city, but was convenient to Copenhagen-bound ferries, which loaded and unloaded in the Inre hamnen right in front of the station building.

The building was next to destroyed ten years later, 14 December 1866, in a fire. When the building was reconstructed, the bell tower was kept. That part, between the platforms and the square Centralplan, was reopened in 1872.^[1]

More and more lines were built and consequently more and more tracks and train sheds were needed. The new train shed with four new tracks opened in 1891. The Malmö-Kontinentens Järnväg from Malmö to Trelleborg was built in 1898. In 1926, Malmö Central Station became the station's official name.^[2]

Though the train shed was built as a terminus, there is also a single through-line for freight next to the station building, allowing hopper wagons to access the port, where they serve a large granary plant producing most of the flour for baking in the counties of Skåne and Halland.

In 2000, both local and long-distance trains began running directly to Denmark via the new Öresund Bridge. Malmö became the centre of the new Oresundtrain regional railway system spanning eastern Denmark and much of southern Sweden, which in 2009 became integrated with local buses and trains in most of its service areas. The trains were, however, forced to reverse direction in Malmö’s terminal station, creating delays for anyone travelling to Denmark from Lund and beyond, and restricting the frequency of service, as each train had to both enter and leave Malmö by the same tracks.

The opening of the City Tunnel in December 2011 made it possible for passenger trains to travel through the station, which had previously been a terminus, and most traffic shifted to the new lower level. All passenger traffic to Denmark now uses the tunnel, and most local trains continue to the new Triangeln and Hyllie stations even if they are not going beyond Malmö. The existing train shed was, however, renovated at the same time, to accommodate occasional long-distance trains including some services to Stockholm and the night express to Berlin, but several tracks were removed to make room for an extended bus terminal.

See also

• List of railway stations in Sweden

References