Friställebanan

Friställebanan is a rail connection between the states of Kulla and Ådalen in Vittmark. It connects the Kulla state capital Kronsta with the railroad hub Gunna Bro in Ådalen through the upper valley of the Friställen region. Officially, the line continues to Lovis Bruk and runs parallel to Sörmarksbanan from Kronsta. Extension to Grönspång is planned, but construction has not started.

The line is the second rail connection through the Blue Mountains and gives direct access to the extended rail network in the state of Ådalen. Unlike the Blue Mountains Railways further to the east, it is build in the Vittmarker wide gauge of 1829 mm and runs under the Blue Mountains through the 10.723 m long Hällings tunnel. Opened in 7673 after a building time of 11 years, already completely electrified. It was mainly a single track line for both passenger and cargo trains.

It has a designed speed of 160 kph, but since many cargo trains use the line as well, passenger trains never reach that speed. Stations are present at about 50 km intervals, half an hours travel time between stations making it possible to operate one passenger trains an hour. Due to the cargo trains travelling at about half the speed, capacity is limited to one train every other hour, since passenger trains will have to pass cargo trains at the same stations. For the intermittent stations in the Friställen valley this is not really a problem, since transportation demand in the sparsely populated region is limited. But due to the limitations, the much older Blue Mountains Railways still is the faster connection to the northern coast.

After the Inse tunnel disaster in 7676 the federal government earmarked funds for escape and evacuation routes in all single tube tunnels. In the case of Hällings tunnel, building a second tube for a second track was seen as the most viable solution. Building started in 7681 and was completed in 7689. It meant that additional passing stations and an extension to Grönspång had to be postponed.