Gothenburg commuter rail

Gothenburg commuter rail (Swedish: Göteborgs pendeltåg) is the commuter rail system associated with Gothenburg, Sweden. The trains use the main-line tracks, shared with long-distance trains and freight trains. They are operated with X11 and X61 electric multiple units.

Göteborgs pendeltåg
Overview
LocaleGothenburg Metropolitan Area
Transit typeCommuter rail
Number of lines3 with 3 services
Number of stations25
Websitehttp://vasttrafik.se
Operation
Began operation1960
Operator(s)SJ on behalf of Västtrafik
Technical
System length104 km (65 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)
Top speed160 km/h (99 mph)
System map

Services

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There are three services in the Gothenburg commuter rail system. The first service was introduced in 1960, to Alingsås. In 1992 the service to Kungsbacka commenced operations after the railway line had been rebuilt as double track. The railway to Trollhättan was being rebuilt as a double track railway and completed in 2012, with both a third commuter rail connection to Älvängen and a denser regional schedule to Trollhättan introduced.

Line Stretch Length Stations
Alependeln Göteborg CÄlvängen 31 km 7
Alingsåspendeln Göteborg CLerumFlodaAlingsås 45 km 12
Kungsbackapendeln Göteborg CMölndalKungsbacka 28 km 8
Gothenburg commuter rail network
 
Älvängen
 
Nol
 
Nödinge
 
Bohus
 
Surte
 
Gamlestaden
 
 
Alingsås
 
 
Västra Bodarna
 
 
Norsesund
 
 
Floda
 
 
Stenkullen
 
 
Lerum
 
 
Aspedalen
 
 
Aspen
 
 
Jonsered
 
 
Partille
 
 
Sävenäs
 
 
 
 
 
 
Göteborg C
 
Liseberg
 
Mölndal
 
Kållered
 
Lindome
 
Anneberg
 
Hede
 
Kungsbacka
 
An X61 at Gothenburg Central Station
 
An X11 at Gothenburg Central Station

Regional rail services

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In addition there are some regional rail services, going to cities further away, with a higher speed and more sparse stops.

Line Stretch Length Stations
Vänersborgståget Gothenburg Central Station - Trollhättan - Vänersborg 86 km 4
Boråståget Gothenburg Central Station - Borås 71 km 7
Bohuståget Gothenburg Central Station - Stenungsund - Uddevalla - Strömstad 180 km 17
Skövdetåget Gothenburg Central Station - Alingsås - Skövde 144 km 8

In contrast to Stockholm, Västtrafik monthly tickets (of course within the geographic area the ticket covers) can be used on SJ inter-city trains as well (but not X_2000 and some other fast trains). Since 2010 all Västtrafik regional trains are part of the Västtrafik pay-per-ride ticket system.

The regional trains to Borås, Vänersborg and Skövde run in addition to the long-distance trains, filling up gaps between them, to create one-hour schedule. The trains to Strömstad are kind of long-distance train by themselves, but the county authorities has responsibility, since it was inside one county also before the county reform 1998. The railways to Borås and Strömstad are single track, which makes it hard to have denser schedule than once per hour, without having too many slow train meetings, and there are freight trains as well. The Gothenburg-Stenungsund line has extra departures creating half-hour schedule in rush hour. To Vänersborg there is from 2012 double track and sometimes two trains per hour.

A fifth rail line that can be counted as a regional rail line is the Öresundståg GothenburgMalmöCopenhagen (360 km). Västtrafik monthly passes are valid to Kungsbacka, but this is not usually considered a Västtrafik line.

The most used connection on these lines is the connection to Borås, if including the about 60 daily buses that go since the railway can't support the demand. There are plans to build a new railway here, as part of Götalandsbanan, which is going to be a super-highspeed railway (max 320 km/h). The first part, Mölnlycke-Bollebygd, is planned to be opened around 2020-2025, and later extended to Stockholm.