The East Coast Line ( sv, Ostkustbanan) is a long mainline railway in Sweden, linking the cities of Stockholm,

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the c ...

, Gävle and Sundsvall, as well as the suburbs north of Stockholm.

History

At the construction of the first Swedish mainline railway network 1856–1891 there was a principle to avoid the coasts. This was for military reasons (protect against attacks, airplanes did not exist) and to bring steam powered transport to areas without any. The coasts already had steamboats. The Northern Main Line was built Stockholm–

–

Avesta The Avesta () is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language. The Avesta texts fall into several different categories, arranged either by dialect, or by usage. The principal text in the lit ...

– Storvik–

Ånge Ånge is a locality and the seat of Ånge Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden with 2,872 inhabitants in 2010. Ånge is a railway junction where the northern main line railway ('' Norra Stambanan'') connects with the central main line ...

. Gävle, Söderhamn and Sundsvall which today are located along the East Coast Line were then connected by branches from the mainline. The first part of today's East Coast Line was the Stockholm–Uppsala part of the Northern Main Line, which opened on 20 September 1866. It was followed by the Uppsala–Gävle Railway, which was built by a private company and opened 1874. The railway Gävle–Sundsvall–Härnösand was opened 1927 after several years of debate. It was called the East Coast Line, and was built by a company mainly owned by the government and the cities along it. After a revision of the naming of railways in Sweden, the name East Coast Line was given to the railway Stockholm–Uppsala–Gävle–Sundsvall.

Electrification

The first part of the line was electrified in 1906–07 as a part of SJ's electrification trials. In 1926, the

Western Main Line The Western Main Line ( sv, Västra stambanan) is the main state-owned railway line between Stockholm and Gothenburg in Sweden. Its construction began in 1856 and it opened for service in 1862.Gothenburg was electrified. As Stockholm's main train depot is located in

Hagalund Hagalund () is a residential area and railway yard in Solna Municipality, 5 km north of central Stockholm. It is known for the blue highrise buildings ''"Blåkulla"'' (Blue Hill or Blockula) which, against a rather strong and long-lasting opinion ...

, on the East Coast Line, this part was also electrified at the same time. The whole line was finally electrified in 1934. As all other lines in Sweden, East Coast Line is electrified with .

Improvements

The line was extended to double track between Stockholm and Uppsala as early as in 1906. Some curvy sections were rebuilt in the 70s and the 80s, but most of the improvements were done in the 90s, with the introduction of the tilting high-speed train X2000. In the middle of the 90s, the line was completely overloaded with heavy commuter and long distance services north of Stockholm. In 1996, the work started on the Arlanda Line, a loop line which increased the distance with 3 km. With the introduction of 3 extra trains per hour between Stockholm and

Stockholm-Arlanda Airport Stockholm Arlanda Airport is an international airport located in the Sigtuna Municipality of Sweden, near the town of Märsta, north of Stockholm and nearly south-east of Uppsala. The airport is located within Stockholm County and the p ...

, the line was extended to four tracks between Stockholm and

Skavsta Stockholm Skavsta Airport (Swedish: ''Stockholm Skavsta flygplats''), or Nyköping Airport is an international airport near Nyköping, Sweden, northwest of its urban area and approximately southwest of Stockholm. It is served by low-cost air ...

. This also resulted in increased speeds, from . In Skavsta, the old line, which goes over Märsta, diverges from the new line. Märsta serves as the terminus for most of the commuter services. It has been mentioned that the track might get upgraded to run up to 250 km/h but this has not been confirmed yet.

Traffic

Ostkustbanan is the busiest line in Sweden, with 60 trains per hour north of Stockholm. Here is a list of trains which use the line: X2000: Stockholm –

Falun Falun () is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 37,291 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Dalarna County. Falun forms, together with Borlänge, a metropolitan area with just over 100,000 inhabitan ...

, Sundsvall,

Östersund Östersund (; sma, Staare) is an urban area (city) in Jämtland in the middle of Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth-largest lake, Storsjön, ...

and

Härnösand Härnösand () is a locality and the seat of Härnösand Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden with 17,556 inhabitants in 2010. It is called "the gate to the High Coast" because of the world heritage landscape just a few miles north of H ...

, via Arlanda. InterCity: Stockholm - Mora, Falun and Östersund/Duved, via Arlanda. Night Trains: Stockholm - Luleå, Kiruna/Narvik, Åre. Mostly over Märsta. Regional Trains: Uppsalapendeln. Runs every half-hour between Stockholm - Uppsala. Calls at Märsta. Commuter Trains: (Södertälje) - Stockholm - Märsta. Freight trains: To all parts of middle and northern Sweden.

Operating speeds

The two express-tracks north of Stockholm permit running at the Swedish maximum of . The local tracks are limited to . The double-track section between Uppsala and Gävle also permits 200 km/h. North of Gävle, the line consists of single track, mostly with lower speed. Apart from Ljusne-Enånger, around

Söderhamn Söderhamn is a locality and the seat of Söderhamn Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 11,761 inhabitants in 2010. Sports The biggest local sport is bandy. Broberg/Söderhamn Bandy play in the highest division Elitserien Elitserien ...

where the old single track was replaced with 40 km new single track in the 1990s with a maximum speed of 200 km/h.

Branch Lines

There are a few branch lines. * Mälaren Line, diverges directly after Stockholm Central. * Arlanda Line is technically a branch, despite it has the most traffic. *

Dala Line The Dala Line ( sv, Dalabanan) is a single-track railway line in Sweden, linking the city of Uppsala to the towns of Sala, Avesta-Krylbo, Hedemora, Säter, Borlänge and Mora. In Uppsala, the line joins the East Coast Line, which goes south t ...

, the line to

Dalarna Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Norwa ...

, diverges directly after Uppsala. * Örbyhus–Hallstavik Line, a freight line which diverges in Örbyhus.

References

East Coast Line Stockholm–Uppsala on Järnväg.net

East Coast Line Uppsala–Gävle on Järnväg.net

East Coast Line Gävle–Sundsvall on Järnväg.net
{{Authority control Railway lines in Sweden Unreferenced rail transport articles Rail transport in Västernorrland County Rail transport in Gävleborg County Rail transport in Stockholm County Stockholm (National Area) Rail transport in Uppsala County 1927 establishments in Sweden Railway lines opened in 1927