Gothenburg commuter rail

Göteborgs pendeltåg

Overview
Locale	Gothenburg Metropolitan Area
Transit type	Commuter rail
Number of lines	3 with 3 services
Number of stations	25
Website	http://vasttrafik.se
Operation
Began operation	1960
Operator(s)	SJ on behalf of Västtrafik
Technical
System length	104 km (65 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in)
Top speed	160 km/h (99 mph)

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

Lines

There are three lines in the Gothenburg commuter rail system. The first line opened in 1960, to Alingsås. In 1992 another line to Kungsbacka was opened, when the railway 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	Gothenburg Central Station - Älvängen	31 km	7
Alingsåspendeln	Gothenburg Central Station - Lerum - Floda - Alingsås	45 km	12
Kungsbackapendeln	Gothenburg Central Station - Mölndal - Kungsbacka	28 km	8

Gothenburg commuter rail network
Legend 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 lines

In addition there are some regional rail lines, 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 opposite to Stockholm, Västtrafik allow their monthly tickets (of course within the geographic area the ticket covers) to be used also on SJ inter-city trains (but not X_2000 and some other fast trains). From 2010 all Västtrafik regional trains are part of the Västtrafik pay-per-ride ticket system.

The regional trains to Borås, Vänersborg and Skövde go 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 Gothenburg-Malmö-Copenhagen (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 pf 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.