Public transport in Stockholm

Public transport in Stockholm consists of bus, metro, commuter rail, Inter-city rail, regional rail, light rail, tram, commuter ferry 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), 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 archipelago boat traffic is handled by Waxholmsbolaget.

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

Transport systems

Bus ()

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.
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

Metro ()

The Stockholm Metro consists of three groups of lines (blue, red, green), which are each referred to as a singular line.

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

Commuter rail ()

There are six commuter rail lines. These pass through Stockholm City Station located beneath T-Centralen, unlike other trains of the railroad network that pass through Stockholm Central Station.

Light rail ()

There are two systems classified as "light rail" in Stockholm by the SL, the Roslagsbanan, an old narrow gauge rail system, and the Saltsjöbanan with standard gauge rail, both not being connected to the main railroad network. There is a replacement bus connection for Saltsjöbanan between Slussen and Henriksdal station due to Slussen reconstruction project, with the whole line due to be closed and replaced by busses for 15 months starting in January 2023. Roslagsbanan is planned to be extended directly to T-Centralen via a new tunnel.

Trams ()

There are four tram systems in Stockholm and only two of them, Nockebybanan and the new Tvärbanan are connected and share depot and rolling stock. The vehicles primarily used on these lines are a localized version of the Bombardier Flexity Swift; CAF Urbos trams have also been ordered.

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

Commuter ferry ()

there are four commuter ferry () lines in Stockholm, administrated by SL. Some are run by Waxholmsbolaget under SL supervision.

Archipelago boats

Transport across the islands of archipelago is operated by Waxholmsbolaget. The boats depart from Strömkajen, Vaxholm, Stavsnäs, Årsta brygga, and Nynäshamn.

Regional and intercity rail

There are also 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.

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. there is a supplemental fee of 120  SEK for passing through the railway station at the airport.

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 Airport

Being the largest airport in Sweden, it is connected to Stockholm by several means. Arlanda Express provides an airport rail link service between the airport and Stockholm Central Station. It is by far the fastest connection, but also the most expensive. Other possibility is to take a commuter train (Pendeltåg) No. 40 that passes through the airport on its shuttling between Uppsala and Stockholm City Station, but a special fee is applied. This is because Arlanda Express has been built as a public–private partnership project, with the winner having a monopoly on rail transport to the airport. Other rail operators like SL are therefore obliged to pay fees to Arlanda Express. Flygbussarna provides shuttle bus connection from airport to cityterminalen.

Other airports

Bromma Airport is connected via tram line 31 (Tvärbanan). 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.

Tickets

by one measure—single ticket price for a journey—Stockholm has the most expensive-to-use public transport in the world.

SL's tickets

SL has two main forms of tickets. Both are used for all SL public transport within Stockholm County.
*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 and loaded onto an SL Green card, but can be bought also by SL app or by contactless payment card.

In either case, the ticket is loaded onto a Green SL RFID card that is scanned at the start of the first journey.

It is possible also to use a contactless payment card (Mastercard, Maestro, Visa and Visa Electron) to buy a single ticket (75 min). As you board a public transport vehicle, you will be required to validate your trip every time by swiping the payment card at the rectangular validators in the front of the vehicle. If you hear a beep and see a green light, your trip has been validated.

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 either upon arrival, or in advance - then it needs to be used within 2 hours!). 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's ticket prices

The prices for the most common tickets are as follows. The discounted fare is for persons under the age of 20, or over the age of 65.

Archipelago boats

Archipelago boat traffic is administered by Waxholmsbolaget. Until 29 April 2022, SL tickets that are valid for at least 30 days (30-day, 90-day, and annual travel cards) are also acceptable. It is also possible to pay with SL card credit. The price of ticket depends on length of the journey. Discounted fare is applicable for children under 19, students, and persons 65+. It is possible to buy a return ticket, but the price is the same as for two single journey tickets. Ö-card is for residents only.

Arlanda Express tickets

The Arlanda Express train between Stockholm central station and Arlanda airport has its own relatively expensive tickets or travel cards for exact number of journeys. Tickets can be bought in vending machines near the platform, or electronic tickets on the internet. Tickets are valid for 90 days. Children under 18 years travel for free when accompanied by an adult.

Flygbussarna

Flygbussarna provides transportation to four airports in Stockholm. Below are listed prices when tickets are bought online/via app. Adult and youth tickets are up to 20 SEK more expensive when bought by other ways.

Contractors

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

See also

*Planka.nu
*Trams in Stockholm
*Transport in Sweden

References

External links

2021 SL Rail Network Map
(pdf)

2021 Waxholmsbolaget Ferry Network Map
(pdf)

Traffic and Public Transport
on City of Stockholm

Central Stockholm public transportation map
(Swedish only)

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Transport in Stockholm
Stockholm