Public transport in Stockholm

Public transport in Stockholm consists of bus, metro, regional/suburban rail, light rail, tram and an 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.

A metro train at Gamla stan station

An icy commuter train

Djurgården ferry

A city bus at Sergels torg

A tram on Tvärbanan

Heritage tram on the Djurgården line

Modern tram on Spårväg City line 7 at Sergels torg

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

Transport systems

Bus

A red city bus to Ropsten in the centre of Stockholm.

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.[2] 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

Line	Route
1	Frihamnen – Hötorget – Fridhemsplan – Stora Essingen
2	Norrtull – Odenplan – Slussen – Sofia
3	Södersjukhuset – Slussen – Fridhemsplan – Karolinska Hospital
4	Gullmarsplan – Fridhemsplan – East Station – Radiohuset
6	Ropsten – East Station – Odenplan – Karolinska Institute
172	Norsborg – Huddinge – Högdalen – Skarpnäck
173	Skärholmen – Älvsjö – Bandhagen – Skarpnäck
176	Mörby station – Solna – Ekerö centre – Stenhamra
177	Mörby station – Solna – Tappström – Skärvik
178	Mörby station – Helenelund station – Kista – Jakobsberg station
179	Sollentuna station – Kista – Spånga station – Vällingby
471	Slussen – Nacka – Orminge centre – West Orminge
474	Slussen – Gustavsberg centre – Ålstäket – Hemmesta
670	East Station – Danderyds sjukhus – Vaxholm
676	East Station – Danderyds sjukhus – Norrtälje
873	Gullmarsplan – Tyresö centre – Nyfors
875	Gullmarsplan – Tyresö centre – Tyresö church

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	Kungsträdgården – Hjulsta/Akalla	25.5 km	20
Red line	13, 14	Norsborg/Fruängen – Ropsten/Mörby centrum	41.2 km	36
Green line	17, 18, 19	Åkeshov/Alvik/Hässelby strand – Skarpnäck/Farsta strand/Hagsätra	41.3 km	49

The Stockholm metro has been called 'the world's longest art gallery',[3] with most of the network's 100 stations decorated with sculptures, mosaics, paintings, installations, engravings and reliefs.

Suburban rail

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	Slussen – Saltsjöbaden; Igelboda – Solsidan	18.5 km	18
Roslagsbanan	27, 28, 29	Stockholm East Station – Näsbypark/Österskär/Kårsta	65.0 km	39
Commuter rail (Pendeltåg)	40	Uppsala C – Arlanda C– Stockholm City – Södertälje centrum		25
Commuter rail (Pendeltåg)	41	Märsta – Stockholm City – Södertälje centrum		24
Commuter rail (Pendeltåg)	42	Märsta – Stockholm City – Nynäshamn		21
Commuter rail (Pendeltåg)	43	Bålsta – Stockholm City – Nynäshamn		28
Commuter rail (Pendeltåg)	44	Kallhäll – Stockholm City – Älvsjö		21
Commuter rail (Pendeltåg)	48	Södertälje centrum – Gnesta		6

Regional and intercity rail

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.

Light rail and tram

There is one heritage tram line operational, Djurgården line.[4] The infrastructure is owned by SL, but the cars are owned and operated by the Swedish Tramway Society. All SL fares are valid.[5]

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 the Bombardier Flexity Swift; CAF Urbos trams have also been ordered.[6]

Name	Line	Stretch	Length	Stops
Spårväg City	7	Sergels Torg – Waldemarsudde	3.2 km	12
Nockebybanan	12	Nockeby – Alvik	5.7 km	10
Lidingöbanan	21	Ropsten – Gåshaga Brygga	9.2 km	14
Tvärbanan	22	Sickla Station – Solna Station	18.2 km	26

Boat

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

As of August 2018 there are four water bus (pendelbåt) lines in Stockholm, where SL fares apply.[7]

Name	Line	Route
Sjövägen	80	Frihamnen – Nybroplan
Djurgården ferry	82	Slussen – Skeppsholmen – Allmänna gränd
Riddarfjärdslinjen	85	Klara Mälarstrand – Riddarholmen[8] – Söder Mälarstrand – Kungsholmstorg
Ekerölinjen	89	Tappström – Klara Mälarstrand

Airport transport

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

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

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.

Local transportation

Arlanda is since 2012 served by the commuter train (Pendeltåg) to Stockholm and Uppsala. The trip takes 38 minutes to Stockholm Central Station and 18 minutes to Uppsala.[9] As of 9 January 2019 there is a supplemental fee of 120 SEK for passing through the railway station at the airport.[10]

Tickets

As of March 2009, 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.[11]

SL's tickets

SL has two main forms of tickets. Both are used for all SL public transport within Stockholm County.[10]

• Travel card — valid during a specified period of time, from 24 hours up to a year, depending on the card.
• Single journey ticket — valid for 75 minutes from activation, within Stockholm County. Single journey 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 the first 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. As mentioned above, the additional cost for using the railway station at Arlanda airport is 120 SEK (can be paid upon arrival). Travelling to Uppsala or Knivsta with SL from Stockholm County requires a valid Uppsala County (UL) ticket in addition to the usual SL ticket.

• Note: Applies to SL Stockholm Commuter Rail (Pendeltåg) train only. Other operators have their own tickets including Arlanda Express. (SL Stockholm Commuter Rail (Pendeltåg) as well as National and Regional trains stop at Arlanda Central Station (Arlanda C) while Arlanda Express stops at Arlanda South (first stop): Terminal 2, 3 and 4 and Arlanda North (second and last stop): Terminal 5.)

SL Access RFID card used to hold tickets.

SL's ticket prices

As of 9 January 2019, the prices for the most common tickets are as follows.[10] The discounted fare is for persons under the age of 20, or over the age of 65.

Single journey ticket

Purchase method	Adult fare	Discounted fare
SL credits ("reskassa")	37 SEK	25 SEK
App, ticket machines, ticket booth, ticket agent	45 SEK	31 SEK
Bought from a conductor	64 SEK	42 SEK

Travel cards

Card name	Adult fare	Discounted fare
24-hour card	155 SEK	105 SEK
72-hour card	310 SEK	210 SEK
7-day card	405 SEK	270 SEK
30-day card	930 SEK	620 SEK
90-day card	2,770 SEK	1,810 SEK
365-day card	9,770 SEK	6,550 SEK
30-day card including Arlanda passage	1,190 SEK	890 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

With the Waxholmsbolaget archipelago boats the ticket structure is essentially

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

In addition you can buy single and return tickets using the travelcard

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

Arlanda Express tickets

The Arlanda Express train between Stockholm central station and Arlanda airport has its own relatively expensive tickets. As of January 2019, the normal price is 295 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 SEK surcharge. There are discounts for children, students and retired people. There are multi-journey tickets, and a one-year tickets for unlimited travel.[12]

Contractors

SL does not themselves directly operate any traffic, instead all the traffic is handled by contractors.

See also

• Trams in Stockholm
• Transport in Sweden

References

1. Stockholm Transport - in English Archived 2007-02-07 at the Wayback Machine
2. "Blåbussarna". AB Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. Archived from the original on 2007-02-21. Retrieved 2007-04-21.
3. Art Discussion website 'Twisted Sifter'
4. "The Djurgården line no 7:". Swedish Tramway Society. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
5. "The Djurgården line no 7N: Fares". Swedish Tramway Society. Retrieved 2011-07-21.
6. "CAF wins Urbos tram contracts". Retrieved 2011-04-01.
7. "Pendelbåtar" (in Swedish). Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. Retrieved 2018-08-12.
8. "Pendelbåtslinje 85 får en ny hållplats" (in Swedish). Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. 21 December 2017. Archived from the original on 2018-01-07. Retrieved 2018-08-12.
9. "Trains". Stockholm Arlanda Airport. Swedavia. Retrieved 2017-05-24.
10. "Fares & tickets". Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
11. "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.
12. "Tickets and fares". Arlanda Express. Retrieved 2019-01-27.

External links

• Traffic and Public Transport on City of Stockholm