Roslagsbanan

Stockholm's narrow-gauge commuter railway, filmed from the cab on its longest branch: from the city edge through villa suburbs to the farms and forests of Roslagen.

The route

Roslagsbanan is a narrow-gauge railway running north and north-east from Stockholm into Roslagen, the coastal country of Uppland. It uses 891 mm track, the old Swedish three-foot gauge, which survives here as one of the last examples in the country. The line opened in 1885 from Stockholm Östra, and the branch to Kårsta, today's line 27, dates from the same year. At 41.5 km it is the longest of the system's three routes.

The railway was electrified early, at 1,500 V DC from overhead wires, and was among the first public transport railways in Europe to run electrically. The Djursholm section had electric trains from 1892, and Djursholms Ösby grew into a busy junction where trains once called every few minutes. Kårsta was not always the end of the line: the track continued to Rimbo until 1981, when that section closed. The last stretch from Lindholmen to Kårsta was kept open because the local roads were poor, and it is still in use.

Today Roslagsbanan is owned by SL, Stockholm's public transport authority, and works as a busy commuter line. Since 2010 around 22 km have been doubled, so trains on line 27 run on double track as far as Vallentuna before the line becomes single track for the quieter run north. The trains in this video are X10p units from the late 1980s and 1990s; new Stadler X15p trains began entering service in 2023, and a tunnel extension towards T-Centralen is planned.

What you will see

The ride starts at Stockholm Östra, a small terminus beside the Royal Institute of Technology, where the narrow tracks feel almost hidden from the rest of the city's rail network. The train soon slips out among trees and rock cuttings and enters Djursholm, one of Stockholm's oldest villa suburbs. Look for the noise barriers that line parts of this stretch, and for the junction at Djursholms Ösby, which was one of Sweden's busiest stations in the early twentieth century.

Beyond Roslags Näsby the line threads through Täby, with its newer housing and the passing points where trains in the other direction wait. Watch the track layout: as far as Vallentuna the line is double, a result of the upgrade work of the past fifteen years. After Täby kyrkby the houses thin out and open fields begin to appear between patches of woodland.

North of Vallentuna the railway turns properly rural. The single track runs past small halts, farm buildings and long edges of spruce and birch forest, and the stops grow further apart. From Lindholmen onwards you are on the section that survived the 1981 closure only because the roads were poor. The journey ends quietly at Kårsta, a village terminus surrounded by countryside, far from the city where the ride began.

Riding it for real

Roslagsbanan is part of Stockholm's SL network and is currently run by Transdev on SL's behalf, so ordinary SL tickets and travel cards are valid and no reservation is needed. Trains on line 27 leave from Stockholm Östra, which is next to Tekniska högskolan metro station on the red line. The northern end beyond Vallentuna is the quietest part of the line, so it is worth planning your return before you set off. Check SL for current timetables and fares before you travel.

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