The Central Line ( sv, Mittbanan) is a long railway line between

Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. History Th ...

and Storlien in central

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 SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

( Västernorrland County and Jämtland County). It continues as the long Meråker Line through Norway to Hell Station and onwards to Trondheim. The railway shares line with Inland Line between Brunflo and Östersund while the line between Ånge and

Bräcke Bräcke is a locality and the seat of Bräcke Municipality in Jämtland County, Sweden with 1,651 inhabitants in 2010. The community is located next to Lake Revsundssjön, 70 km south-east of Östersund. The railway has been an importa ...

double track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most lin ...

. The entire line is electrified at , but the Norwegian section is not. This requires all trains to Norway to be diesel trains.

SJ AB SJ (formally ''SJ AB'') is a government-owned passenger train operator in Sweden. SJ was created in 2001, out of the public transport division of ''Statens Järnvägar'', when the former government agency was divided into six separate government- ...

operates night trains with sleeping cars from Storlien or Duved to either

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

or Malmö. The section between Sundsvall and Trondheim is operated by Tågkompaniet under

Norrtåg Norrtåg (English: Northern Trains) is a publicly owned company which is owned by Norrbotten County, Västerbotten County, Västernorrland County and Jämtland County in Sweden. The company owns passenger trains and organises passenger train ope ...

ownership with Class 92

diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

s between Östersund and Trondheim, and Regina trains between Sundsvall and Östersund.

Snälltåget Snälltåget is an open access railway company in Sweden with long-distance trains along the Southern Main Line in Sweden from Malmö to Stockholm as well as sleeper trains between Stockholm and Berlin and Malmö to the ski and hiking resorts in ...

also operates ''Utmanartåget'' with a biweekly connection between Storlien and Malmö via Stockholm.

History

The first part of the line was the Sundsvall–Torpshammar Railway, a private, narrow gauge and long line opened fully in 1878, and its first part in 1872. From 1875 the Swedish State Railways were building Norrland Crossline, which opened 1879 between

Torpshammar Torpshammar () is a locality situated in Ånge Municipality, Västernorrland County, Sweden with 444 inhabitants in 2010. It was founded in 1797 as an iron milling community. It is known for being home to the first location of Boda Borg. Climate ...

and Östersund. Before 1881 it had no connection to the rest of Sweden (only steamboat from Sundsvall), until the railway between Stockholm and Ånge was finished. At the same time the governments were building a railway east from Trondheim, with the

Government of Sweden The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden ( sv, Konungariket Sveriges regering) is the national cabinet of Sweden, and the country's executive authority. The Government consists of the Prime Ministerappointed and dismissed by the Speaker of the ...

building the Swedish part, finished 1882. The

Government of Norway The politics of Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the Council of State, the cabinet, led by the prime minister of Norway. Legislative power i ...

(Norway was in a union with Sweden at the time) built the Norwegian section, Meråker Line, which was opened in 1886. In 1885 the Sundsvall-Torpshammar Railway was bought by the state and rebuilt to

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

the following year. The railway was then known as the Norrland Crossline () until it got the present name in the early 1990s. In November 2013 the railway had to be closed near the border because of high risk of landslide, opened again February 2015. The place is from the border and named "Stora Helvetet" ("Big Hell", named after the troubles of building the railway here in 1877).

References

External links

Trafikverket page on Mittbanan

Järnväg.net page on Mittbanan
{{in lang, sv Railway lines in Sweden Railway lines opened in 1878 1878 establishments in Sweden Standard gauge railways in Sweden