The Western Main Line ( sv, Västra stambanan) is the main

state-owned State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public owner ...

railway line between Stockholm and Gothenburg in Sweden. Its construction began in 1856 and it opened for service in 1862.Västra stambanan

Trafikverket 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 ...

. Retrieved 2019-03-02. Maintained by the

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 ...

, the Western Main Line is

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 histor ...

and consists entirely of

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 ...

, except the four-track sections between

Gothenburg Central Station Gothenburg Central Station ( sv, Göteborgs centralstation, Göteborg C) is the main railway station of Gothenburg and it is the oldest railway station in Sweden still in use. The station serves 27 million passengers per year, making it the secon ...

and Olskroken (), in Järna (), and south of Stockholm, between

Flemingsberg Flemingsberg is a southern suburb of Stockholm, Sweden that is located in Huddinge Municipality in the south-western part of the contiguous Stockholm urban area. It is located approximately 15 minutes by Stockholm commuter rail from central ...

and Stockholm South Station, about . The last section between Stockholm South Station and

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 ...

runs mainly on a two track bridge. Before the

Stockholm City Line The Stockholm City Line ( sv, Citybanan) is a commuter railway tunnel beneath central Stockholm in Sweden which is used by the Stockholm Commuter Rail. The line is long, double track and electrified. It has two stations: Stockholm City Stat ...

was opened in 2017, the bridge was a serious bottleneck, as all trains had to use the same tracks.

Operating speed

The maximum speed on the line is . This speed is only attained by the

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 f ...

tilting high-speed trains and some regional trains. The InterCity trains are limited to due to the rolling stock. A section of the line, between

Skövde Skövde () is a locality and urban centre in Skövde Municipality and Västra Götaland County, in the Västergötland (Western Gothland region) in central Southern Sweden. Skövde is situated some 150 km northeast of Gothenburg, between ...

and

Töreboda Töreboda is a locality and the seat of Töreboda Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 4,189 inhabitants in 2010. Every three years since 2000, a festival has been held at the beginning of July. Töreboda is the hometown for worldw ...

, is the longest straight section of railway in Sweden, with almost of track without a curve, and used in speed trials. The current Swedish speed record of was achieved here by a X50 "Regina" EMU. The line has always been known for its high speeds. As early as the 1950s, the Rapid engines travelled the route at .

Future plans

There are plans to build a high-speed line between Stockholm and Gothenburg, south of lake

Vättern Vättern ( , ) is the second largest lake by surface area in Sweden, after Vänern, and the sixth largest lake in Europe. It is a long, finger-shaped body of fresh water in south central Sweden, to the southeast of Vänern, pointing at the tip o ...

, ''

Götalandsbanan Götalandsbanan (the Gothia line) is a planned high-speed railway planned to be built between Södertälje and Gothenburg in Sweden, past Linköping and Jönköping. The planned length is about . The speed is planned to be . It will, if buil ...

''. The route would be operational somewhere around the mid 21st century, and capable of speeds of more than . However, this would only cut the travel time by about 40 minutes (the fastest connection today is a non-stop X 2000 service which covers the in 2 hours and 52 minutes, at an average speed of ), but connect more large cities to the Stockholm–Gothenburg line (

Borås Borås ( , , ) is a city (officially, a locality) and the seat of Borås Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 66,273 inhabitants in 2010. Geography Borås is located at the point of two crossing railways, among them t ...

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a 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 of Jönköping Munici ...

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 (Chu ...

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 Link� ...

References

External links

Järnväg.net page on Västra stambanan
{{Authority control Railway lines in Sweden Railway lines opened in 1856 1856 establishments in Sweden Rail transport in Gothenburg Rail transport in Stockholm

Operating speed

Future plans

See also

References

External links