Stambanan

Stambanan is the main east-west railway line through Vittmark, connecting nine of the twelve state capitals.

History

In the 7570's the federal government started a railway project aiming at connecting most of the state capitals with an east-west line in the broad 1829 mm gauge. even at the start of the project, a part was already completed in the form of the national railway line connecting Östervallens West station to Äs, Talpå and Nabben.

In 7573 works started on a new line from Östervallen East towards Tammerköping in Liden with stops in Kletudde and Boda. After this line opened in 7577, works continued towards Järnahamn (7578), Månsta (7579), Västersund (7581), Hinnårum and Hagneå (7583).

At the same time, the complex project of connecting the East and West stations in Östervallen through the Sammanbindningsbanan started in 7575. It took until 7582 until this short part, with a new station south of the Royal Palace, was opened.

In the west, the extension from Talpå to Vinborg opened in 7579, which resulted in Stambanan having two branches west of Äs. The war with Aedeland prevented further expansion, but in 7596 Kobbe was included in the network (between Nabben and Talpå) while in 7599 the line was extended towards Ormserum. The new capital of Katarinaberg in Austland West Hagen got connected in 7606, with three more stations on the line between Ormserum and Katarinaberg being opened.

The line Källbyholm - Skara - Boda was refurbished to 1829 mm in 7611, which made direct travel through Östervallen possible. During the 7620's and 30's several segments of the line were adapted to accommodate wider trains, more trains and higher speeds.

In 7653 the decision was made to build a new four track tunnel between the West and East stations in Östervallen. At first, they were meant for Stambanan and other interregional and intercity trains, but it turned out it was easier to build metro tunnels and adapt the elevated railway line for train traffic. The tunnel opened in 7664, after which the entire Sammanbindningsbana was renovated. That same year, the decision was made to refurbish parts of the tracks to an operating speed of 250 kph and one hour intervals between stations, which meant that a lot of the smaller stations had to be equipped with tracks to let the faster trains pass. Work started on the oldest parts of the network in Liden.

A new, direct line from Äs to Vinborg was part of the 7664 high speed plan. The line opened in 7669, cutting travel time between Vinborg and Äs (and further east) by half an hour to three quarters. The line Vinborg - Talpå is no longer considered a part of Stambanan, with a regional intercity train now operating the line (and continuing to Åmynningsås).

In 7679 the next upgrade was planned, adapting the parts of the railway that had not been upgraded yet to 300kph. This required completely new tracks, especially through Liden and Östra Haga. This particular project is still ongoing (7690).

The new Queen Anna International Airport required a new track, partially in a tunnel, between Östervallen and Boda. It was opened in 7685.