Stockholm, Sweden

Tunnelbana Blue Line station at Kungsträdgården. Photo by David Pirmann, October 2010.

For a city of its modest size, Stockholm (metro area population 2.4 million) has a hugely varied rail transport network. Aside from the heavy-rail metro, commuter and long-distance trains, there are a number of light rail operations in the Swedish capital.

First and foremost is the Tunnelbana metro system, which consists of three colour-coded lines and 100 stations. Of the three main 'trunk' lines, the southern ends of the Green and Red lines and the northern ends of the Blue and Red lines split to serve two or three branches. Whilst all stations in the central area are below ground, many of those in the suburbs are on the surface. Extensions to the metro and changes to the line configurations are currently under construction, with completion expected around 2028-2030.

There are several light rail lines located throughout the city. The longest of these is the Tvärbanan, running from Solna railway station (connection to the commuter trains) around the city to Sickla (connection to Saltsjöbanan) in a C shape, with connections to the metro and the commuter trains at several points. The Nockebybanan (line 12) operates from the Alvik metro station in western Stockholm to Nockeby. This line runs modern low-floor cars similar to those on the Tvärbanan. The Lidingöbanan runs from the Red line metro station at Ropsten, across a lift bridge onto the island of Lidingö. The single-track lift bridge from 1925 is in the process of being replaced with a new double-track bridge. Finally, tram line no. 7 serves the island of Djurgården from a terminus at street level at T-Centralen. Run as a museum operation from 1991, this line was converted to full-time operation in 2010, and today uses a small fleet of CAF Urbos AXL low-floor trams. The vintage trams still operate on weekends, and most weekdays from late June to late August.

There are several suburban rail operations as well, ranging from heavy rail to an unusual narrow gauge line in the north of Stockholm. Operating east from Stockholm to the suburbs of Saltsjöbaden and Solsidan is the Saltsjöbanan line. In the north of Stockholm is a narrow-gauge commuter operation known as the Roslagsbanan. Finally there is the commuter operation known as the Pendeltåg, which operates through downtown Stockholm in a new tunnel (opened 2017) with two underground stations, Stockholm City (beneath the T-Centralen metro station) and Stockholm Odenplan (beneath the Odenplan metro station on the Green Line).

Despite Stockholm's status as a medium-sized city, it has a great deal to see both rail-wise and otherwise, and is blessed with a superb location. Various time-based travelcards are obtainable for use on all the above-described systems.

Djurgården Line	Lidingöbanan Line	Nockebybanan Line	Saltsjöbanan and Roslagsbanan Lines	Tunnelbana (Metro)
Tvärbanan Line

Page Credits

By Tim Deakin. Updated by Tim Kynerd in 2022.