Kolbäck – Ludvika railway line

Kolbäck – Ludvika
Hallstahammar train station
Route length:	110 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	15 kV 16 2 ⁄ 3  Hz  ~
Operating points and routes
Legend Västerdalsbanan from Vansbro 260.4 Björbo Västerdalsbanan to Repbäcken 250.7 Salån 245.7 Skallberget 243.7 Kybäcksheden 236.4 Nyhammar 232.8 Grangärde 228.9 Stensbo 219.9 Brunnsvik 217.7 Sörvik Bergslagsbanan from Falun 212.7 Ludvika Bergslagsbanan to Vansbro 207.4 Norsbro Nedra Hillen 203.0 Hagge 198.7 Morgårdshammar 196.4 Smedjebacken 191.9 Vanhall 185.3 Söderbärke 181.9 Vasterbyhytta Södra boats 176.7 Vad (former station) 175.003 Finnhällan 167.2 Sembla 166.1 Fagersta Norra 165.9 Fagersta Bruk (until 1947 Fagersta ) Godsstråket genom Bergslagen by Frövi 163.7 Fagersta C (until 1947 Västanfors ) Godsstråket genome Bergslagen after Avesta Krylbo 158.1 Sundbo Ängelsberg – Kärrgruvan railway line 150.9 Ängelsberg 140.5 Virsbo (until 1891 Nordano ) 133.9 Seglingsberg 129.2 26.8 Brattheden (formerly Ramnäs and Ramnäs bruk and Pers.-Halt) Kolbäcksån , combined rail / road bridge Ramnäs bruk to Tillberga (until 1993) 24.0 Ramnäs (formerly Ramnäs kyrkby , from 1991) 17.1 Surahammar Surahammars Bruk 13.3 Klingbo 6.3 Hallstahammar E18 Mälarbanan of Stockholm C Västerås C Thing tuna 0.0 130.2 Kolbäck Kolbäcksån Kolbäck – Oxelösund railway line Mälarbanan to Örebro

The Kolbäck – Ludvika railway is an electrified , single-track, standard-gauge railway line in Sweden . It branches at Kolbäck from today as Mälaren Line from designated route and meets in Ludvika to Bergslagernas Järnvägar . The route is called Bergslagspendeln by the Swedish transport authority Trafikverket . The northern part of the line originally leading to Vansbro has been dismantled between Ludvika and Björbo , the Björbo – Vansbro section is now part of Västerdalsbanan .

history

prehistory

The Strömsholm Canal was built in the 18th century and opened in 1795 in order to facilitate the arduous transport of the iron ore, which is abundantly extracted in the Bergslagen region, to the ports on Lake Mälaren in summer . This canal connected several lakes in the course of the Kolbäcksån river and enabled transport by ship between Smedjebacken at Lake Barken and Lake Mälaren near Kolbäck . Above Smedjebacken, Kolbäcksån could no longer be made navigable. In order to better develop the higher-lying regions, one of Sweden's first railway lines, the Wessman – Barkens Jernväg narrow-gauge railway with a gauge of 1188 mm, was built in the 19th century between Ludvika and Smedjebacken and opened in 1860.

In 1857 it was decided to build the state railway line Västra Stambanan between Stockholm and Gothenburg not on the north bank, but south of the Mälaren. With significant participation from the cities of Stockholm and Västerås, the private railway company Stockholm-Westerås-Bergslagens Jernvägsaktiebolag (SWB, later SVB) was founded in 1871 to connect the cities north of Lake Mälaren with each other, with the Bergslagen region and with Stockholm . The SWB chose the small town of Tillberga north of Västerås as the starting point for its routes, which quickly developed into a railway junction. In 1875 the Tillberga – Köping and Tillberga – Sala routes were opened.

Track construction

In 1876, the Tillberga – Ängelsberg section was opened via Ramnäs, at the same time as the Tillberga – Tomteboda line, which connected the route to Stockholm via what was then called Norra stambanan . In Ängelsberg the line was connected to the formerly narrow-gauge Ängelsberg – Kärrgruvan railway operated by Norbergs Nya Järnvägsaktiebolag , which was switched to standard gauge in 1876 .

In order to relieve the Tillberga junction and to connect the industrial towns of Surahammar and Hallstahammar , which were important at the time , a connection route from Ramnäs to Kolbäck was opened in 1899. At the same time, construction was advanced in a northerly direction beyond Ängelsberg, and in 1900 the Bergslagsbana , which had existed since 1875, was reached in Ludvika . Between Smedjebacken and Ludvika, the standard-gauge SWB line ran almost parallel to the narrow-gauge Wessman-Barkens Järnväg. In 1903, SWB took over the narrow-gauge railway and then shut it down. In the following years, the line was extended beyond Ludvika via Nyhammar and Björbo to Vansbro . In 1922, SWB took over Norbergs Nya Järnvägsaktiebolag.

Nationalization and electrification

In 1944 the SWB was nationalized and one year later incorporated into the state railway company SJ. By 1956, the Tillberga – Ludvika line and the Ängelberg – Snyten branch line were electrified. The Ramnäs – Kolbäck link initially had no contact wire.

Shutdowns

In the 1960s, all traffic on the Nyhammar – Björbo section and passenger traffic on the Ludvika – Nyhammar and Kolbäck – Ramnäs sections were shut down. 1985 saw the closure of freight traffic on the Ludvika – Nyhammar section.

Recommissioning as Bergslag pendulum

In November 1991, under the direction of the regional local transport company Västmanlands Lokaltrafik, passenger traffic between Ludvika and Västerås was resumed under the name Bergslagspendeln . The Ramnäs – Kolbäck section was electrified for this purpose and the cities of Surahammar and Hallstahammar received passenger transport by rail for the first time since the 1960s. The trains first had to turn around in Kolbäck until a new connecting curve east of Kolbäck went into operation in 1993, which allowed them to drive from Hallstahammar directly to Västerås.

Today's operation

Since 2001, passenger transport has been organized by the regional railway company Tåg i Bergslagen . It is driven with railcars of the type Bombardier Regina and SJ X12 . On weekdays during the day, trains run between Ludvika and Fagersta every two hours, from Fagersta to Västerås every hour. On weekends and public holidays there is a two-hour service along the entire route. Goods are mainly transported to the industrial companies along the route, but there are occasional through freight trains, mostly via Ängelsberg – Snyten to or from Avesta Krylbo .

Web links

Commons : Bergslagspendeln  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Bergslag commuting. trafikverket.se, accessed October 16, 2017 (Swedish). 

Individual evidence

1. ^ Ludvika – Björbo – Vansbro. Bandel 241. In: banvakt.se. Retrieved October 5, 2017 (Swedish). 
2. ↑ Ängelsberg – Fagersta / Västanfors – Ludvika. Bandel 240. In: banvakt.se. Retrieved September 28, 2017 (Swedish).  
3. ↑ Tillberga – Ramnäs – Ängelsberg. Bandel 239. In: banvakt.se. Retrieved September 28, 2017 (Swedish).  
4. ↑ Ramnäs – Surahammar – Kolbäck. Bandel 253. In: banvakt.se. Retrieved September 28, 2017 (Swedish).  
5. ↑ (Västerås–) Kolbäck – Fagersta – Ludvika. Fact & Historia. In: järnväg.net. Retrieved September 28, 2017 (Swedish). 
6. ↑ (Västerås–) Kolbäck – Fagersta – Ludvika. Tobacco shop. In: järnväg.net. Retrieved October 4, 2017 (Swedish).