Piteåbanan

Piteåbanan (Retired Line)

Piteåbanan, formerly Statsbanan Älvsbyn-Piteå, is part of Sweden's railway network that stretches between Piteå and Älvsbyn. The track was extended in two stages, the first of which was the extension to Munksund in 1955. Passenger traffic was discontinued in 1972.

Piteåbanan History

The main line through upper Norrland was built according to the anti-coastal principle and it was intended that local interests would build the railways to the cities on the coast. The first committee for a branch line consisting of representatives from Piteå city, Piteå county and Älvsbyns county met in 1892 about a railway between the main line and Piteå city. In addition to Älvsbyn, connections were discussed at Persberg, Storsund (Bastuträsket), Brännberg and Långträsk. Piteå county municipality did not agree on the route and even though track stretches were investigated, no decision was made to build. The second committee was formed in 1906 and based on the experiences from investigations about the Skellefte Railway, current and future freight transport for the timber industry was included in the basis for the application. In the Riksdag in 1907, Skelleftebanan's application was approved, while Piteåbanan's was rejected. When the Skelleftebanan had begun, a new application was submitted and in 1911 the Riksdag granted SEK 500,000 to start the construction of the Piteåbanan. The cost was estimated at SEK 3.6 million.

The track was built in the years 1912-1915 and followed the Pite river but went considerably higher and a bit from the river valley, which was unsuitable for a railway. It was opened for traffic on 1 October 1915 but provisional traffic already existed in 1914.

In connection with the expansion of the freight railway yard in the 1980s, the Piteå station building was demolished, but the locomotive shed and warehouse buildings remain.

The railway was electrified on 12 June 1995 in connection with an upgrade of the line and a rerouting of the connection to the main line at Älvsbyn. A triangle track was built in Nyfors, south of Älvsbyn and the track got a new route that connects to the old track before Högheden. The new route is about 1.5 kilometers longer than the original one.

Piteåbanan Overview

Piteåbanan Place: Norrbotten
Piteåbanan Stretch: Älvsbyn - Piteå
Piteåbanan Connecting Lines: The main line through upper Norrland
Piteåbanan Opened: 1915
Piteåbanan Owner: The Swedish state
Piteåbanan Infrastructure Manager: The Swedish Transport Administration
Piteåbanan Traffic Operator: Green Cargo
Piteåbanan Length: 54 kilometers
Piteåbanan Gauge: 1435 millimeters (single track)
Piteåbanan Maximum permissible axle load: 25 tons
Piteåbanan Maximum permitted weight per meter: 8.0 tons/m
Piteåbanan Greatest Slope: 20.4 ‰
Piteåbanan ATC: ATC-2
Piteåbanan Remote Blocking: Yes, System H
Piteåbanan Top Speed: 90 km/h
Piteåbanan Electrified: 1995
Piteåbanan Feed: 15 kV 16 ⅔ Hz (catenary line)
Piteåbanan Load Profile: A