The Southern Main Line ( sv, Södra stambanan) is a long standard gauge

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

between

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...

and Katrineholm in Sweden. The trains continue further on to

Stockholm Central Station Stockholm Central Station ( sv, Stockholms centralstation) is a railway station in Stockholm, Sweden. It is situated in the district of Norrmalm at Vasagatan/Central Plan. The station opened on 18 July 1871 and it had over 200,000 visitors da ...

along 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.Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...

the Öresund line to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, and in Lund to the West Coast Line towards Gothenburg.

History

The first parts of the line opened in 1856 between Malmö and Lund, and the last parts in 1874. An unusual route was chosen as the line passed far from many of the bigger towns at the time, such as

Hörby Hörby () (old da, Hørby) is a locality and the seat of Hörby Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 15 631 inhabitants in 2019. 6 km (3.7 mi) south-east of the center of Hörby is at least since 1959 the location of a radio and ...

and

Kristianstad Kristianstad (, ; older spelling from Danish ''Christianstad'') is a city and the seat of Kristianstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 40,145 inhabitants in 2016. During the last 15 years, it has gone from a garrison town to a devel ...

. This was an attempt to "colonize" the countryside and populate it. Another strategic choice was to put it far from the coast to minimize vulnerability to military attacks. A number of new towns sprung up or grew as the line brought access to the area, such as Eslöv and Hässleholm. Initially the route Katrineholm–Nässjö was called ''Eastern Main Line'', whereas the original definition of ''Southern Main Line'' was kept and thus reserved for Malmö–Nässjö–Falköping. Not until 1990, the newly founded railway authority

Banverket , genre = , fate = , predecessor = Swedish State Railways , successor = Swedish Transport Administration , foundation = 1988 , founder = , defunct = 31 March 2010 , location_city ...

changed the official definition according to modern use. (Nässjö–Falköping became known as '' Jönköping Line''.)

Present

The line entirely consists of at least double track, with four tracks on the section Malmö–Arlöv. Today high-speed

X 2000 X 2000, also called SJ X2 or simply as X2, is an electric tilting train operated by SJ in Sweden. It was constructed by Kalmar Verkstad in Kalmar, Sweden (prior to the company being bought by Adtranz in 1996) and launched in 1990 as a ...

trains travel at for large parts of the way.

Stations

This is a list of stations along the line where the long-distance trains stop: * Katrineholm * Norrköping *

Linköping Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...

Mjölby Mjölby ( or ) is a city and the seat of Mjölby Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 12,245 inhabitants in 2010. Mjölby is located by the rivulet Svartån. The name "Mjölby" is derived from ''Mölloby'', which comes from or ''m� ...

Nässjö Nässjö () is a locality and the seat of Nässjö Municipality, Jönköping County, Sweden with 16,678 inhabitants in 2010. History For many years, Nässjö was a rural village with agriculture as the dominant occupation. The turning point was t ...

Alvesta Alvesta () is a locality and the seat of Alvesta Municipality in Kronoberg County, Sweden, with 8,017 inhabitants in the urban area in 2010. Alvesta is an important railway junction, joining the Stockholm–Malmö–Copenhagen railway w ...

Hässleholm Hässleholm (older da, Hasselholm) is a locality and the seat of Hässleholm Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 18,500 inhabitants in 2010. Overview Hässleholm was gradually developed from 1860 in connection with the construction of the ...

* Lund *

Here is a list of all the stations along the line: * Katrineholm * Norrköping *

Kimstad Kimstad is a locality situated in Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 1,510 inhabitants in 2010. On 12 September 2010, Kimstad became the scene of a railway accident when an X 2000 high-speed train collided with a crane uti ...

* Linghem * Linköping * Mantorp * Mjölby *

Tranås Tranås () is a locality and the seat of Tranås Municipality, Jönköping County, Sweden with 14,197 inhabitants in 2010. Overview It is close to the lake Sommen in the north of Småland. Its main commercial center is located along the main stree ...

* Aneby * Nässjö * Bodafors *

Sävsjö Sävsjö is a locality and the seat of Sävsjö Municipality, Jönköping County Jönköping County ( sv, Jönköpings län) is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Halland, Västra Götaland, Östergötlan ...

* Stockaryd * Lammhult * Moheda * Alvesta * Vislanda * Diö * Älmhult *

Killeberg Killeberg () is a locality situated in Osby Municipality, Scania County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of Swe ...

Osby Osby () is a locality and the seat of Osby Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 7,157 inhabitants in 2010. Swedish ice hockey goaltender Magnus Åkerlund was born in Osby. The toy manufacturer BRIO was based in Osby, but moved to Malmö in ...

Ballingslöv Ballingslöv is a locality situated in Hässleholm Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom ...

* Hässleholm * Sösdala * Tjörnarp *

Höör Höör (formerly spelled Hör, , old da, Hør) is a locality and the seat of Höör Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 7,865 inhabitants in 2010. Name The town was previously known as Hørg (in the 12th century), Hørgh (in the 15th ce ...

Stehag Stehag () is a locality situated in Eslöv Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 1,261 inhabitants as of 2018.

Eslöv Eslöv (; older da, Eslev) is a town and the seat of Eslöv Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 19,598 inhabitants as of 2018. Eslöv is part of the Öresund Region. History According to a map from 1717, Eslöv village was originally l ...

Örtofta Örtofta is a locality situated in Eslöv Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of Sweden ...

* Stångby * Lund * Hjärup * Åkarp * Burlöv * Malmö

Future

As of 2018, the

Arlöv Arlöv () is the seat of Burlöv Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden. It is statistically not defined as a locality of its own, but forms part of the contiguous city of Malmö, 5 km northeast of downtown Malmö. Out of Malmö's 344,000 inh ...

–Lund segment is being rebuilt from two to four tracks. The project includes lowering the tracks through Åkarp and Hjärup for a total of in order to decrease noise pollution, as well as an expansion of Burlöv station allowing it to accommodate

Øresundståg Øresundståg (, ) is a passenger train network operated by Skånetrafiken and Transdev in the transnational Øresund Region of Denmark and Sweden. The name is a hybrid of the Danish ''Øresundstog'' and the Swedish ''Öresundståg'', both meani ...

, and a new station in in the south of Lund. Construction on a section between Arlöv and south of Lund began in 2017, while Flackarp–Lund is still under planning. The entire project is expected to be completed in 2024. Around year 2020–2030 a new high-speed line for 300 or 320 km/h is planned to be opened between

and

Södertälje Södertälje ( , ) is a city in Södermanland and Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. As of 2017, it has 72,704 inhabitants. Södertälje is located at Mälarens confluence in to the Baltic Sea through the lock in the ...

. It is called Ostlänken and will cut travel time by 40 minutes. There are also plans to increase the permitted speed to between Nässjö and Hässleholm around 2020. Both plans are delayed until further notice by the government, both for cost reasons, and awaiting the political discussion of how to improve the railway network.

References

External links

Trafikverket page on the Southern Main Line

Järnväg.net page on Southern Main Line
{{in lang, sv Railway lines opened in 1856 1856 establishments in Sweden Rail transport in Östergötland County Rail transport in Kronoberg County Rail transport in Skåne County