The Österlen Line () is a long

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

line between

Ystad Ystad () is a town and the seat of Ystad Municipality, in Scania County, Sweden. Ystad had 18,350 inhabitants in 2010. The settlement dates from the 11th century and has become a busy ferryport, local administrative centre, and tourist attracti ...

and

Simrishamn Simrishamn is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Simrishamn Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 6,527 inhabitants in 2010. Despite its small population, Simrishamn is, for historical reasons, usually still referred to as a Stad ...

Skåne County Skåne County ( ), sometimes referred to as Scania County or just Scania in English, is the southernmost Counties of Sweden, county, or , of Sweden, mostly corresponding to the traditional Provinces of Sweden, province of Scania. It borders th ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. The line is the remains of two former lines, the Malmö–Simrishamn Line and the Ystad–Eslöv Line. The Österlen Line runs from

Ystad Station Ystad Station () is a railway station which is the terminal station of both the Ystad Line and the Österlen Line. The station is located in Ystad in Skåne County, Sweden, and is served by the Skåne Commuter Rail. Service The Skåne Commut ...

, where it is a continuation of the

Ystad Line The Ystad Line () is a long railway line between Malmö and Ystad in Scania, Sweden. At Ystad, the line connects with the Österlen Line, which continues onwards to Simrishamn. History Plans for a railway between Malmö and Ystad were fi ...

. The line is

single track Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

and

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. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

. It is served by the

Skåne Commuter Rail Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne County, cr ...

and freight trains.

History

The Österlen Line has historically been two lines: the Malmö–Simrishamn Line and the Ystad–Eslöv Line. The latter was opened in 1866 and was at the time the only railway connection to Ystad. It was connected the other way in 1874 with the opening of the Ystad Line. In 1882 the Simrishamn–Tomelilla Line opened and met the Ystad–Eslöv Line at Tomelilla. In 1893 the Malmö–Tomelilla Line opened, making Tomelilla a hub. Trains from Malmö to Simrishamn were marketed as the Bornholm Express, as they corresponded with the ferry to the Danish island of

Bornholm Bornholm () is a List of islands of Denmark, Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. I ...

. The various railways were

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

in the early 1940s, and from the 1950 Y6 diesel

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with the generic term railroad car or railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coa ...

s were introduced. In 1970, passenger transport from Malmö to Tomelilla was terminated and all passenger trains instead ran via Ystad. Freight transport from Eslöv to Tomelilla was closed in 1975 and in 1981 the passenger trains there were also terminated. In 1985, the SiTY Train was launched between Simrishamn, Tomelilla and Ystad, using Y1 diesel railcars. They were rebranded Österlenaren in the late 1990s. After SJ in 1991 decided to terminate freight traffic on the section from Köpingebro to Simrishamn, the traffic was taken over by Österlentåg AB. The company filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

in 1994. Eventually Sydtåg started freight traffic, but it also had to fold. In 1996 the Ystad Line was electrified, allowing the Österlen Line to also be electrified. In 1997,

Malmöhus County Malmöhus County () was a county of Sweden from 1719 to 1996. On 1 January 1997 it was merged with Kristianstad County to form Skåne County. It had been named after Malmöhus, a castle in Malmö, which was also where the governor originally li ...

and

Kristianstad County Kristianstad County () was a county of Sweden from 1719 to 31 December 1996 when it was merged with Malmöhus County to form Skåne County. The seat of residence for the Governor was in Kristianstad. See also * List of governors of Kristiansta ...

were merged to create

, resulting in the Skåne Commuter Rail being extended from Ystad to Simrishamn. Electrification started in 2001, resulting in the line being closed several summers. At the same time, the line received several upgrades. The electric traction was taken into use on 20 September 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osterlen Line Railway lines in Skåne County Railway lines opened in 1866 1866 establishments in Sweden 19th-century establishments in Malmöhus County 19th-century establishments in Kristianstad County