The Main Line Through Upper Norrland ( sv, Stambanan genom övre Norrland) is a long railway line between

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 ...

Jämtland County Jämtland County ( sv, Jämtlands län, ) is a county or '' län'' in the middle of Sweden consisting of the provinces of Jämtland and Härjedalen, along with minor parts of Hälsingland and Ångermanland, plus two small uninhabited strips ...

and Boden,

Norrbotten County Norrbotten County ( sv, Norrbottens län; se, Norrbottena leatna, fi, Norrbottenin lääni) is the northernmost county or '' län'' of Sweden. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden's total area. It shares border ...

in Sweden. For military and regional policy reasons, it was built in very sparsely populated areas, far away from the more densely populated coast. The line has several branches to settlements on the coast, the ones to

Umeå Umeå ( , , , locally ; South Westrobothnian: ;). fi, Uumaja; sju, Ubmeje; sma, Upmeje; se, Ubmi) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. Situated on the Ume River, U ...

and Luleå being considered part of the line itself. Today the three largest settlements along the line are Boden (population 18,800),

Älvsbyn Älvsbyn (; translating to "the river village") is a locality and the seat of Älvsbyn Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden with 4,967 inhabitants in 2010. It is known as "The Pearl of Norrbotten". Älvsbyn has a railway station that is serv ...

(population 5,500) and

Vännäs Vännäs () is a locality in Västerbotten County in northern Sweden. Vännäs is the seat of Vännäs Municipality and had 4,466 inhabitants in 2018. The name of the village is known since 1535 (''Wendenäs'', ‘The place where a person walk ...

(population 4,100). In 2010, the

Bothnia Line The Bothnia Line ( sv, Botniabanan) is a high-speed railway line in northern Sweden. The long route, from Höga Kusten Airport, where it connects to the Ådalen Line, via Örnsköldsvik to Umeå, was opened in 2010 and trains are allowed to tra ...

opened, which parallels the Main Line Through Upper Norrland along the coast from Sundsvall to

. From 2013 all passenger traffic moved from the Main Line to the Bothnia Line, ending service between along the section between Bräcke and

. The North Bothnia Line is under planning, and will in a future allow high-speed trains to run to Luleå.

Services

The line is dominated by freight traffic, mostly hauled by electric locomotives. Two passenger night trains to and from

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 d ...

, operated by Vy Tåg to

Swedish Transport Administration The Swedish Transport Administration ( sv, Trafikverket) 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 a ...

specification, travel along part of the railway between Umeå and Boden. One train continues to

Narvik ( se, Áhkanjárga) is the third-largest municipality in Nordland county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Narvik. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Ankenesstranda, Ba ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and one continues to Luleå.

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 op ...

provide up to three daily trains per direction between Umeå, Boden and Luleå, with one continuing to/from

Haparanda Haparanda (; fi, Haaparanta, , aspen shore or bank) is a locality and the seat of Haparanda Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. It is adjacent to Tornio, Finland. Haparanda had a population of 4,856 in 2010, out of a municipal total of ...

from April 2021. An additional train makes two daily roundtrips between Umeå,

Vindeln Vindeln () is a locality and the seat of Vindeln Municipality in Västerbotten County, Sweden with 2,333 inhabitants in 2010. Climate Vindeln has a subarctic climate that is mildened for its latitude by its proximity to the Gulf Stream airflow ...

, and

Hällnäs Hällnäs () is a locality situated in Vindeln Municipality, Västerbotten 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 Kin ...

, where it leaves the Main Line and continues inland to

Lycksele Lycksele (; sma, Liksjoe; Ume Sami: ) is a locality and the seat of Lycksele Municipality in Västerbotten County, province of Lapland, Sweden with 8,513 inhabitants in 2010. History Lycksele is the oldest lasting Sami settlement in Swedish ...

. Although most trains are powered by the 15 kV overheard supply, the line between Hällnäs and Lycksele is not electrified, so Norrtåg use a single

Bombardier Itino Bombardier Itino is a diesel multiple unit manufactured by Bombardier Transportation, originally developed by Adtranz. It has two or three cars and is capable of . 40 units have been built and 17 more are on order. It is in service in Germany an ...

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 als ...

for these services.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite encyclopedia , title=Stambanan genom övre Norrland , encyclopedia=

Nationalencyklopedin ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (; "The National Encyclopedia" in English), abbreviated NE, is a comprehensive contemporary Swedish language, Swedish-language encyclopedia, initiated by a favourable loan from the Government of Sweden of 17 million Swed ...

, url=http://www.ne.se/stambanan-genom-övre-norrland , language=Swedish , accessdate=6 September 2010 {{Subscription required Railway lines opened in 1894 1894 establishments in Sweden