Roslagsbanan – the narrow-gauge railway

There is a railway in Sweden that is unique in the entire world. Roslagsbanan still runs, day in and day out, on tracks that are only 891 millimeters wide – three old Swedish feet. It is the only railway in the world with this exact track gauge that has regular traffic. For hundreds of thousands of Stockholmers it is an obvious commuter train, but behind the modern train sets lies one of the country's most colorful railway histories, deeply rooted in the Roslagen region.

Why narrow gauge?

In the 1870s and 80s, when railway fever gripped Sweden, the Roslagen region wanted trains. But the landscape was sparsely populated and capital was scarce, and a full-width network was too expensive. The solution was narrow gauge: a narrower line was cheaper to build, required less land and could handle tighter curves. The track gauge of 891 mm was chosen, and several companies were formed – among them Stockholm–Rimbo Railway (SRJ), Uppsala–Länna Railway and Länna–Norrtälje Railway. SRJ gradually bought up the other companies, and the network was given the collective name Stockholm–Roslagens Railways.

Rimbo – the heart of the network

In this network, Rimbo became the major hub. Here the lines from Stockholm, Uppsala, Norrtälje and Hallstavik met, and the station town grew up around the railway. From Rimbo you could travel south towards eastern Stockholm, north towards Uppsala, east towards Norrtälje and further towards the harbor and paper mill in Hallstavik. At its greatest extent, the Roslagsbanan network comprised around 325 kilometers of railway – a far-reaching regional system that connected all of northern Roslagen with the capital. The line transported everything: commuters and market visitors, milk and mail, timber, paper and general cargo.

Nationalization and closures

After World War II things changed. Automobiles grew in popularity, roads improved and the narrow-gauge lines became unprofitable. SRJ was nationalized in 1951 and fully incorporated into the Swedish Railways in 1959. After that, SJ began a systematic rundown: in 1969 the decision was made to close Rimbo–Norrtälje, passenger traffic on Uppsala Östra–Rimbo–Hallstavik was closed in 1977, and in January 1981 traffic on Kårsta–Rimbo ended, after which the track was torn up. With this, almost the entire extensive network in northern Roslagen disappeared. For many in the region, the torn-up railway embankments – today often cycle and hiking trails – are a bittersweet memory of a bygone era.

The railway that was saved

But the southern part of the network, closest to Stockholm, met a different fate. Stockholm County Council through SL bought it in 1972, and after an intense debate around 1980 it was decided to keep and upgrade the line instead of closing it. It was a choice against the tide – at a time when narrow gauge lines were otherwise being torn up across the country, Stockholm chose to invest in its own.

Roslagsbanan today

The result is today's Roslagsbana, a modern commuter train line that departs from Stockholm Östra at the Royal Institute of Technology. It is operated on three lines: line 27 to Kårsta, line 28 to Österskär and line 29 to Näsbypark. Altogether it is about 65 kilometers of track and 39 stations, with around 45,000 boarding passengers per day. The line is continuously upgraded and expanded – double track is being laid, platforms are being lengthened and new trains are being introduced. The fact that the unique track gauge of 891 mm has been preserved makes Roslagsbanan a living technical cultural heritage: a 19th-century railway that still serves a purpose, with one foot in the future and one in the railway history of Roslagen.

Sources

• Roslagsbanan – Wikipedia
• Roslagsbanans stolta historia – StockholmsMix
• Banguide – jarnvag.net