Småland

On a rainy spring day, this trip went to småland through some places in västergötland. First some stops along the Västra stambanan railway.

 Gårdsjö station must be one of the smallest train stations in Sweden. The town of Gårdsjö has only 146 citizens, but the trains are stopping here several times per day.

 This one however is passing without stopping. X74 from MTR Express from Göteborg to Stockholm.

 Next stop is Skultorp. The station was shut down 1981, due to its close location to Skövde (5km), the busses are operating here instead.

 The station building is however left as a memory.

 Next one is a stop at Vaggerydsbanan in Småland. Smålands Taberg is a station from 1894 and is still operated.

 Taberg is famous for its mountain, 343 meters above sea level and is mentioned in Selma Lagerlöfs "The wonderful adventures of Nils".

 On top there is a view point, and a cafe.

 The station can be seen from above.

 On top there is also a royal monument.

 Vaggeryd is the next stop.

 The train from Värnamo is approaching. Vaggerydsbanan is operated by Krösatågen and diesel cars Y31/Y32.

 There are plans to electrify this railway, but no decision has been taken yet.

 Skillingaryd station.

 Another royal monument.

 JLT länstrafiken billboard.

 Train leaving to Jönköping.

 Klevshult station.

 Train from Skillgaryd is approaching

 Due to few passengers at this station, most train are just passing by.

 Värnamo station. Here the non-electrified Vaggerydsbanan meets the electrified Kust-till-kust banan from Kalmar to Göteborg.

 Close to Värnamo there is a nationpark called Store Mosse. Kust-till-kust railway is crossing it right in the middle.

 Store Mosse has the largest boggy ground south of Lappland.

 So, one can enjoy the real north already in south part of Sweden.

 SJ Regional from Kalmar to Göteborg is passing here.

 Trails are made for enjoying this beautiful place.

The remains of old peat plant can be found here.

Östgötapendeln

Östgötapendeln (Commuter trains in Östergötland region) started 1995, and several stations made a come back after a long break. Today, the traffic is operated by Arriva (also known as DB Regio AB).

The orange coloured line is for Östgötapendeln.

 My trip starts in Norrköping which is the start/end stop for all Östgötapendel trains.

 Norrköping lies at the important railway Södra stambanan connecting Stockholm with Malmö. X2 high speed trains are passing here.

 Norrköping central station.

 The building is from 1866.

 A hostel is at the higher floors of the station building.

 SJ Regional to Sala is at Norrköping.

 Today Östgötapendeln is operating with older X14 (to the right) and new X61 (to the left). The plan is to replace all X14 with new X61 within next years.

 A very convenient card system is installed on all trains. Tickets can be bought directly on the train.

 Yellow coloured rapeseed fields are in bloom now, the colour which is sometimes characterised as one of the colours from Swedish flag.

 At the train an improvised concert was given.

 Trains are operated often, on a Saturday each 30 minutes.

 Kimstad station was re-opened 2009 after more than 30 years break.

 Bicycle parking.

 Södra stambanan is used by cargo trains as well.

 Linghem station from 1873. Now it has a barber shop.

 X14 trains was manufactured 1994-1995 by ABB and are very similar to older X10.

 X2

 The tilting technology of X2 train in action.

 Vikingstad station has now a small local store. Upper floor is used for apartment living.

 Earlier name for Vikingstad is Bankeberg, which can be seen on the train station sign.

 Quickomat for train ticket purchase

 Inside X14 trains there are beautiful photos from Östergötland, here is one from Mjölby.

 Mantorp station.

 Linköping station.

 At Linköping station Kustpilen train from Kalmar (Y2).

 Östgötapendeln has until recently been also used for Jönköping commuter train system, here to the right is JLT old logotype (Länstrafiken). In some languages a hare is a symbol for a ticketless passenger.

Linköping central station.

Trains in Örebro and Svartå