History of rail transport in Sweden

In 1845 the Swedish count Adolf Eugene von Rosen received permission to build railways in Sweden.

He started building a railway between the town of Köping and Hult (a small port at Lake Vänern).

His money ran out in the 1850s and in 1854 the parliament of Sweden decided that the Swedish trunk lines (stambanorna) should be built and operated by the state.

The first completed public railway in Sweden was the Frykstadbanan, between Frykstad and Klara Älvs, in the province of Värmland.

Following the parliament's decision in 1854 a colonel of the Navy Mechanical Corps, Nils Ericson, was chosen as the leader for the project of building the main lines (stambanorna).

His proposal was that the line between Gothenburg and Stockholm (Västra Stambanan) should run south of Lake Mälaren to avoid competition with shipping.

[1] He also proposed that the line between Malmö and Stockholm (Södra stamabanan) should go to Nässjö and then on to Falköping, where it would meet up with Västra stambanan.

In 1909 the train ferry line between Trelleborg and Sassnitz was opened, making it possible to travel directly between Berlin and Stockholm.

It was decided to build double track along Västkustbanan, and with high speed standard, and in 1985 a new railway designed for 200 km/h (120 mph) was opened around Halmstad.

The reform divided Statens Järnväger State Railways (SJ) and created a new company Banverket (BV), which became the owner of the infrastructure.

While most current railway lines of Sweden were decided and built by the state, and receive their technical upkeep from the public as well, SJ no longer holds a monopoly on operating and owning passenger trains where such can be run profitably on a commercial basis.

Large parts of the rail network serve parts of the country which don't generate enough passenger or cargo traffic to make a profit, and on some of these stretches SJ has held a de facto monopoly until very recently (2010, see below in this section) Average speed is an important factor regarding profitability (more distance per hour means more income per hour).