A SHORT HISTORY OF SWEDISH RAILWAYS                

During the construction of the Göta Canal a proposal was made to build a
railway between Lakes Vänern & Hjalmaren to complete the canal.                

1830's and 40's                

Industrial lines were constructed in Varmland using either horse or
human power.
The first Swedish common carrier railway the "Fryksta" was built,
but was horse powered.                

In 1845 Axel Eugen Von Rosen suggested a privately financed railway company.                

1850's                

The only part of Von Rosen's railway to be built was the Royal Swedish
Railway, Köping - Hult, of that only Köping - Örebro was built.
Parliament decided in 1853/4 that the state should build the main lines
( Stockholm - Malmö / Gothenburg ), and that other lines should be private.
Nils Ericson ( Brother of the Ericson of Novelty / Monitor ) became head of
construction and began construction of the main lines. Locomotives came from
Bayer Peacock in Manchester, while coaches and wagons came from Germany.                

In 1856 the first sections opened, Malmö - Lund and Gothenburg - Jonsered.                

 
By now Von Rosen's Railway had opened as had Ervalla - Nora on the Fryksta
Railway and between Norberg & Engelsberg.                

Varmlands industrial net, complete with train ferries linked Bergslagen
with Lake Vänern and a line was built from Falun to Gavle on the Baltic.                

1860's & 70's                

The Western and Southern Mainlines were completed and the first stage of a
Northern Mainline from Stockholm to Östersund & Luleå was completed to
Uppsala.                

The railway network in 1871 had end points of Stockholm, Malmö, Ystad,
Uppsala & Oslo. Trains had oil lamps, no heat and handbrakes. In 1870 Sweden
had 1730 Km of railways in, 1880 5800 Km, AND lines had reached Sundsvall,
Östersund and Trondheim. Steam heat, gas lighting, toilets and connections
by fall plate between coaches were introduced.                

The first private line to be nationalized was Hallsberg - Mjölby, and
Stockholm Central was built connecting the Northern mainline to the Western
and Southern mainlines.                

1880's                

2000 Km of railway was built, trains ran from Gallivare to Luleå, but were
not connected to the rest of the system. Vacuum brakes were installed on
passenger trains and speeds increased to 90 KPH, sleeping cars and
signalling were developed.                

In 1888 the track authority was merged into Statens Järnvägar
( State Railways ) OR SJ.                

The west coast line Gothenburg - Malmö was built by several private
companies and was nationalized in the 1890's                

1890's                

Trains could run Trelleborg in the south to Malmberget in the north.
The English company building the Iron Ore Line Narvik - Gallivare was taken
over (it was bankrupt) and air brakes were introduced on this line only.
Bogie coaches became standard for new mainline coaches and restaurant cars
were introduced.
Djursholmsbanan and some small industrial lines were electrified.                

1900-1910                

2500 Km of railway were built, mainly private. The state completed the Iron
Ore Line, Frovi - Krylbo & Bohusbanan. The first concrete bridges were built
and track doubling began with Stockholm - Uppsala and Malmö - Hassleholm.
Train ferries ran to Denmark & Germany, new large modern steam locos were 
introduced and trials were made of electric locos.                

1910-1920                

The F class Pacific's were built for express trains, and the Iron Ore Line
was electrified along with Saltsjobanan & Lund - Bjarred.
Inlandsbanan ( Kristinehamn - Gallivare ) began to be built. Track doubling
continued with Örebro - Hallsberg, Linköping - Mjölby and
Gothenburg - Alingsas. An automatic telephone system was introduced along
with the first electric signal box and motor bus services.                

1920's                

Stockholm - Gothenburg was electrified along with the private NKLJ. 
Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö stations were rebuilt. SJ built roads for
it's busses in Bohuslan. Air brakes were installed, as were electric lights
and steam heating. The first electric locos of classes O, D & U were built.
The Ostkustbanan purchased steel coaches and SJ followed suit.                

1930's                

Most main lines were electrified during the 30's & 40's.Inlandsbanan was
completed in 1936.The first bogie electrics were built for the GDG and GBJ.
Railbusses were introduced in large numbers along with petrol/diesel
shunters. Central traffic control began to be installed along with colour
light signals.
In 1939 Parliament decided to nationalise the railway system.                

1940's                

The bulk of the private lines were nationalised.
Track were doubled between Stockholm - Gothenburg and Malmö - Katrineholm.
The first steel bridges were built along with the last steam goods locos of
class E10 and high speed electric multiple units.                

1950's                

Line closures began, and track quality was improved including the
introduction of welded rail. The last SJ steam locos of classes S1 (2-6-4T)
and Gp (2-8-0 891mm gauge) were built. High speed bogie electric locos of
class Ra were introduced along with classes Da, Ma, Dm. Third class was
abolished in 1956 and SJ was 100. Steam passenger workings declined further
due to the bulk introduction of the Y6 "date box" railbusses.                

1960's                

Track doubling was completed form Stockholm to Gothenburg & Malmö.
A project was begun to install colour light signals over the complete
network. The experimental thrystor locos of class Rb were developed into the
first Rc class Bo - Bo electrics. The oldest D type rod drive electrics
were re-built to be operable in multiple as class Du2. Centre units were
constructed for class Dm to form 9000 Hp class Dm3 (1-D+D+D-1 rod drive
locos). Steam locomotives on the non electrified network were replaced by
diesels of classes V3, T21 and T43.                

1970's                

Pandarol clips were installed as the standard rail fixing and Siljansbanan
was electrified. Steam locos were withdrawn in 1974 but lingered as a
strategic reserve until the early 90's.ATC was trialed in 1976.                

1980's                

Automatic Traffic Control (ATC) was introduced along with high speed rail
and points to increase track speeds from the previous general maximum of
90 KPH. The west coast mainline began to be doubled and a major
reconstruction was undertaken in Stockholm. The D type disappeared except
from the Dm3 locos as classes Rc and X10 (EMU) became standard.
In 1988 after 100 years SJ was again split from the track and Banverket was
formed.
Local traffic became the responsibility of local councils and many lines
were closed as a result.
SJ changed its paint scheme from Orange & Red / Brown to Black / Blue.                

1990's                

The X2 tilt EMU ( A working APT) came into service as X2000 at 200 KPH,
along with classes X12 & X14 EMU's and the Danish IC3 type DMU as class Y2
for provincial services. A new line has been built around Sodertalje which
opened in late 1994. "Short Line" type local freight operations have
developed along with some private passenger train operators who grew from
some local services to take over the West Coast Line, the Far North services
and Stockholm Local Services.
SJ was forced to sell many of its subsidiaries by the government including
ASG and Swebus.
                

The Öresund bridge from Malmö to Copenhagen was begun and was 
completed and opened in 2000.
Also more new lines around Lake Mälaren and a new passenger line 
along the coast of the Gulf of Botnia.                 

A rail link opened in 1999 to Stockholm Airport at Arlanda using class
X3 EMU's.       

2000+    

SJ was privatised, split up and part sold off in early 2001