Stockholm Building New Railway System

The city of Stockholm is starting to construct its new railway system called the Citybanan, or the City Line. A new line is being built that runs for six kilometers underneath the city for commuter trains, along with two new stations. The new stations will be at Odenplan and a new connection to the city’s central rail station. The line will run south from the Stockholm Central Station.

 

The cost for this new rail project is currently estimated to be about 1.7 billion Euros or 16 billion Swedish kronor, with the cost being divided by the city, county and state. Citybanan will be completed and open for traffic in 2017.

 

Currently, there are only two southbound tracks from the Stockholm Central Station, with long distance, freight and commuter trains all using the same tracks. This has caused a number of backups and delays for travelers and commuters, and the city needs additional resources for traffic in this direction. It is expected that the increased ability to get around the area and corresponding infrastructure developments will help Stockholm to grow and stay competitive with other European cities in the coming years.

 

During construction, there will be some disruption to the current rail system. Plans currently calls for the stations T-Centralen and Odenplan to be closed for two hours every day while construction is ongoing from 2010 to 2014. The times will be from 10 am to 11 am and 8 pm to 9 pm to avoid unnecessary disturbances. Additionally, the blue metro between Kungsträdgården and Rådhuset will also be closed for four months each year in 2009, 2011 and 2012.