Stångådalsbanan

Stångådalsbanan (The Stångådal Railway)

The Stångådalsbanan of which the former Östra centralbanan is included as a part, is the railway between Linköping and Kalmar. It partly runs jointly with the Tjustbanan and splits at Bjärka-Säby, where the Tjustbanan continues to Åtvidaberg and Västervik and the Stångådalsbanan continues south towards Hultsfred and Kalmar. The course follows the Stångån for a large part along the stretch, which explains its name.

The track is unelectrified with normal track. Passenger traffic is operated by Krösatågen.

Stångådalsbanan History

Historically, the current track is a merger of three tracks with alternating standard gauge and narrow gauge which were later rebuilt to standard gauge. The line Hultsfred-Linköping was built as the standard-gauge Östra centralbanan, opened in 1902. Hultsfred-Berga was part of the continuous standard-gauge Nässjö-Oskarshamn Railway, opened in 1874. The section Berga-Kalmar was a narrow-gauge railway (Kalmar-Berga railway) with 891 mm gauge, opened 1897. The latter track was supposed to be extended to Västervik but nothing came of it. The narrow gauge railroad Hultsfred-Västervik was built, but there was only standard gauge Berga-Hultsfred.

The track section Kalmar-Berga became a purely freight line during the 1960s, which was gradually converted to standard gauge during the 1970s (completed in 1978). This historical expansion explains, among other things, why the trains have to turn around in Berga to continue on towards Linköping/Kalmar, since both lines enter from the west towards Berga station. What historically required two changes to make a train journey between Linköping and Kalmar (alternatively a change in Alvesta on the Södra stambanan, a long detour to the west, requires no changes at all since 1996. The flip side of this has been a deterioration in passenger traffic to Oskarshamn, which was completely suspended between the summer of 2005 and December 2011.

At a level crossing in Ruda in October 2018, a passenger train on the Stångådalsbanan collided with a tractor, whereby three people were taken to hospital with unclear injuries. At a level crossing in Landeryd outside Linköping in December 2010, a car driver died after a collision with a train. At an unattended level crossing north of Kisa on January 19, 2019, a car driver died after a collision with a train. The large number of unguarded level crossings means that collisions between cars and trains sometimes happen, which has caused several deaths and created a lack of functioning trains.

Stångådalsbanan Train Line

• Linköping – Bjärka-Säby:  100 km/h
• Bjärka-Säby – Hultsfred:   120 km/h
• Hultsfred – Berga:             110 km/h
• Berga – Blomstermåla:     120 km/h
• Blomstermåla – Kalmar:  140 km/h

Stångådalsbanan Overview

Stångådalsbanan Place: Sweden
Stångådalsbanan Stretch: Linköping — Kalmar
Stångådalsbanan Connecting Lines:
Södra main line
Tjustbanan
Bockbanan
Berga–Oskarshamn Line
Blomstermåla–Mönsterås Line
Coast to coast line
Stångådalsbanan Narrow Gauge:
Hultsfred–Västervik
Stångådalsbanan Opened: 1902/1897/1874
Stångådalsbanan Owner: Swedish State
Stångådalsbanan Infrastructure Manager: The Swedish Transport Administration
Stångådalsbanan Traffic Operator:
SJ
Green Cargo
Stångådalsbanan Ticket Operator: Kalmar county traffic
Östgötatrafiken
Stångådalsbanan Length: 235 kilometers
Stångådalsbanan Number of Tracks: Single track
Stångådalsbanan Gauge: 1435 millimeters (Normal track)
Stångådalsbanan Maximum permissible axle load: 22.5 tons
Stångådalsbanan Greatest Slope: 19 ‰
Stångådalsbanan ATC: Yes
Stångådalsbanan Remote Blocking: No, System M (Except System R Linköping-Rimforsa)
Stångådalsbanan Top Speed: 100–140 km/h
Stångådalsbanan Electrified: No
Stångådalsbanan Load Profile: A