Tvärbanan
Tvärbanan is a light rail line in Stockholm, Sweden. Its name literally translated into English is Crossways line. It links together many bus and rail lines crossways through its connections with the southern, western and northern subway branches of the Stockholm Metro (Tunnelbanan) and the Stockholm commuter rail (Pendeltåg). The possibility to travel between southern, western and northern greater Stockholm without having to enter the city centre significantly reduces the number of transit passengers, also reducing the number of trains having to pass through the Gamla Stan bottleneck during peak hours. Near Liljeholmen the track is shared with freight traffic in a short section, this being the only place in Sweden where freight and electric trains share the same track.
The trainway is separated from roads in most parts, but there are sections in Gröndal, Sundbyberg and Solna where the tracks run on roads among regular road traffic. In Hammarby sjöstad the trains run in a reservation in the centre of the road rather than in mixed traffic, but there are level crossings between the electric train line and several streets.
Traffic on Tvärbanan started in 2000, first between Gullmarsplan and Liljeholmen, then later between Liljeholmen and Alvik, in 2002 between Gullmarsplan and Sickla udde, and in 2013 between Alvik and Solna centrum. Tvärbanan was used by around 32,000 passengers per weekday in 2005[1] and 44,000 per weekday in 2007.[2]
The bridges used by Tvärbanan include Alviksbron, Gröndalsbron, Fredriksdalsbron, and Ulvsundabron.
Lines
Tvärbanan has a single line (22) with 17 stops, going from Sickla udde south of the Stockholm city centre through Gullmarsplan, Årsta, Liljeholmen, Gröndal, and Stora Essingen to Alvik west of the city centre. In Alvik passengers can change to the northern part of the line going through Bromma and Sundbyberg to Solna. The part to Solna centrum opened 28th October 2013. The new national football arena can be reached within 15 minutes walk from there. After an update of the signal system planned for 2014 it will be no longer necessary to change trains in Alvik for those who want to travel e.g. from Liljeholmen to Sundbyberg.
A branch line to Kista is under consideration, with construction work planned to start in 2014. It is also planned to integrate Saltsjöbanan into the system.
| Line | Stretch | Length | Stops |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Sickla udde - Alvik | 11.5 km | 17 |
| 22 | Alvik - Solna centrum | 6 km | 7 |
Main interchange options
- Solna centrum
- Metro blue line 11
- Sundbybergs centrum
- Metro blue line 10
- Commuter rail line 35
- Alvik
- Metro green lines 17, 18 and 19
- Nockebybanan (light rail line 12)
- Liljeholmen
- Metro red lines 13 and 14
- Årstaberg
- Commuter rail lines 35, 36 and 38
- Gullmarsplan
- Metro green lines 17, 18 and 19
- Large number of bus lines to Tyresö, Haninge, Årsta and Södermalm
Rolling stock
Thirty-seven Flexity Swift low-floor vehicles run on the line (locally called A32). Six of them (432-437) are second hand and imported in 2010 from the RijnGouweLijn-project in The Netherlands. Fifteen new electric trains have been ordered from Spanish CAF (locally called A35) and they started operation in October 2013 on the Solna extension.
Future extension
The remaining part to Solna station with connection to commuter trains lines 36 and 38 will be finished in 2014.
Also a decision was made to extend it from Sickla udde to Sickla station where one can change to the Saltsjöbanan.
See also
- List of electric train and light-rail transit systems
- Public transport in Stockholm
- electric trains in Stockholm
References
- ↑ "Fakta om SL och länet år 2005". Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. 2006-05-18. Archived from the original on 2008-04-09. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
- ↑ http://www.veolia-transport.se/tmpl/ExtensionPage____28160.aspx?epslanguage=ML
External links
- Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (Stockholm Transport) - Official site (English)
- Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (Stockholm Transport) - Official site (Swedish)
- Stockholms countys page about Tvärbanan - Official site (Swedish)
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