The East Link () is a planned

high-speed railway High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...

in Sweden, intended to run from

Södertälje Södertälje ( , ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. It is also a part of Stockholm urban area, Greater Stockholm Metropolitan Area. As of 2020, it has 73,872 inhabitants. Södert� ...

(just south of

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

) to

Linköping Linköping ( , ) is a city in southern Sweden, with around 167,000 inhabitants as of 2024. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Chu ...

Background

The time plan was originally to start building by 2017, with the goal of trains becoming operational in 2033–2035. The construction cost for the new 160-kilometre railway was calculated to be 30 billion SEK in 2012. A detailed plan from the Swedish rail administration was published in December 2008; the Swedish government gave the go ahead in August 2012. In 2019, Swedish infrastructure manager Trafikverket commissioned

Ramboll Rambøll Group A/S, also known as "Ramboll", is a Danish multinational architecture, engineering, and consulting company. In the past 25 years, the company has expanded from being a business mainly focused on the Nordic region, to having offices ...

and

Atkins Atkins may refer to: People * Atkins (surname) Places in the United States * Atkins, Arkansas, a city * Atkins, Iowa, a city * Atkins, an unincorporated community in Bossier Parish, Louisiana * Atkins, Nebraska, an unincorporated community * Atk ...

to research and design the railway.

Speed

The railway will be built to allow train speeds of . It was originally planned for speeds up to . In 2018, the

Swedish Transport Administration The Swedish Transport Administration () is a government agency in Sweden, controlled by the Riksdag and the Government of Sweden. It is responsible for long-term infrastructure planning for transport: road, rail, shipping and aviation. It owns, c ...

decided that the line instead would be designed for speeds up to 250 km/h, citing reduced costs (by 11 billion SEK, from 65 billion to 54 billion). However, this requires 1–2 years of adjusting the original plans.

Route

Long-distance trains would call at

Stockholm Central Station Stockholm Central Station (), is the main Train station, railway station in Stockholm, and largest railway station in Sweden in terms of passenger numbers and train traffic. It is located in the Norrmalm district of central Stockholm on Vasagat ...

and

Södertälje Syd Södertälje ( , ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. It is also a part of Stockholm urban area, Greater Stockholm Metropolitan Area. As of 2020, it has 73,872 inhabitants. Södert� ...

before joining the new line, on which there would be an intermediate stop at

Norrköping Norrköping ( , ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Lin ...

, and reach Linköping about 40 minutes faster than by the existing line. Between Södertälje and Norrköping, regional trains would make additional stops at

Vagnhärad Vagnhärad is a locality situated in Trosa Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 3,324 inhabitants in 2010. Landslide On 23 May 1997 a landslide along the banks of the Trosaån, or Trosa River, damaged or destroyed 7 residential house ...

and Skavsta Airport, and make a brief detour onto the existing line to

Nyköping Nyköping () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden, with 32,759 inhabitants as of 2017. The city is also the capital of Södermanland County. Including Arnö, the locality on the ...

Future expansion

In a little more distant future, a new railway connecting Linköping-Gothenburg via

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat o ...

is planned, called Götalandsbanan. Together, the Ostlänken and Götalandsbanan railways would allow trains to travel between Stockholm-Gothenburg in under two hours.

References

External links

* {{official website, https://www.trafikverket.se/en/startpage/projects/Railway-construction-projects/Ostlanken---East-Link-project/ High-speed railway lines in Sweden