Tvärbanan

Geographically accurate map of the system.
The electric train stop at Liljeholmen with a Flexity Swift electric train. The entrance to the Metro station can be seen in the background
A Flexity Swift at Sickla udde

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 Old Town 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 traffic and trams share the same track.

The tramway 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 trams 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 77,000 passengers per weekday in 2015.[1]

The bridges used by Tvärbanan include Alviksbron, Gröndalsbron, Fredriksdalsbron, and Ulvsundabron.

Lines

Tvärbanan has a single line (22) with 25 stops, going from Sickla udde south of the Stockholm city centre through Gullmarsplan, Årsta, Liljeholmen, Gröndal, Stora Essingen, Alvik west of the city centre, and Sundbyberg to Solna. The part to Solna centrum opened 28 October 2013, and the final part to Solna station opened 18 August 2014.[2] The new national football arena can be reached within 15 minutes walk from there. Bromma airport is a 600-metre walk from Karlsbodavägen stop.

Line Stretch Length Stops
22 Solna station - Stora Essingen 8.2 km 11
22B (replacement busses till october 2017) Stora Essingen - Sickla udde 10.0 km 15

Main interchange options

Rolling stock

Thirty-seven Flexity Swift low-floor trams 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 trams have been ordered from Spanish CAF (locally called A35) and they started operation in October 2013 on the Solna extension.

Signaling system problems

Tvärbanan has suffered from a long-standing issue of incompatible and low performing rail signaling systems. A signaling system monitors and controls the movements of rolling stock on a rail network to ensure safe operation. The Tvärbanan network features multiple different signaling systems from different vendors, because when the rail line was built even the signaling systems were tendered separately for each construction stage. A visible example of this has been at the Alvik station, which is a break point between two systems. Even though the line runs straight at Alvik, the same train cannot be run past the station because of the incompatibility of the systems. Passengers had to switch trains at Alvik, for example when traveling from Stora Essingen to Sundbyberg. Tvärbana's operator, SL, is working on the issues, and the section south of Alvik has been closed during the summer of 2017 to upgrade the signalling.[3] The new signal system is operating since 2017-08-05 from Solna station to Stora Essingen.

Future extension

A decision was made to extend it from Sickla udde to Sickla station where one can change to Saltsjöbanan. Construction work started in April 2015, and traffic is planned to start in the autumn of 2017, together with the reopening of the part from Stora Essingen to Sickla udde.[4]

A branch line to Kista and Helenelund is planned, with construction work planned to start in late 2017. The new branch is also planned to include a stop at Bromma Airport.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Fakta om SL och länet år 2015" (PDF) (in Swedish). Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. 2016-10-25. p. 19. Retrieved 2017-05-15.
  2. ↑ "Påminnelse: Pressinbjudan till invigning av Tvärbanan till Solna station". Pressmeddelande. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
  3. ↑ http://www.dn.se/sthlm/nytt-signalsystem-sinkar-tvarbanan/
  4. ↑ http://www.sll.se/tvarbanan-sickla/
  5. ↑ "Tvärbanan till Kista och Helenelund" (in Swedish). Stockholm County Council. Retrieved 2017-05-15.
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