Mälardalen

Today I'm taking a car to visit railways in Mälaren valley region or Mälardalen in Swedish. The region includes Stockholm, Uppsala, Västerås, Eskilstuna among other cities.

 A rat in the car garage

 Mälardalen in railway terms includes two important railways: Mälarbanan - north of lake Mälaren and Svealandsbanan - south of lake Mälaren. I'm starting with Mälarbanan and Bro. Here is the railway park in Bro.

 The station was shut down in 1972 and re-opened 2001 as the new commuter station.

The railway opened here in 1876 by the company Stockholm-Västerås-Bergslagens Järnvägar (SWB).

 The old station is served as an office.

 The new station is moved about 400m northwest from the old one.

 The new station is constructed by BSK architect firm.

 The station is operated only by SL pendeltåg. Other regional trains are passing by here with 200km/h

 Next stop is Bålsta. Also here the station was non operating from 1972 and until 1996.

 Today it is a terminus for SL pendeltåg from Stockholm and Nynäshamn, and a regional train stop for trains to/from Västerås.

 X40 trains operates the line to Västerås

 The track in the middle is used for terminus platform

 Bålsta is located in Uppsala län, Håbo kommun, but the Stockholm SL ticket is valid here.

 It takes 40min with X60 pendeltåg and 30min with X40 regional train from Bålsta to Stockholm. The price 58SEK with the first train, or 85SEK with the faster one.

 Happy passengers on pendeltåg

 The old station is 1,5km away from the new one

 The old station is now a music instruments shop

 Following the line further west, one of the sections that was completely rebuilt in 1995 is along the strait of Ekolsund. It is still possible to walk where the old railway was located.

 The old station, saved by the locals

 The new line is built on a bridge

Mälardalsleden - bike path around Mälaren lake

The station is built 1902 by Erik Lallerstedt, is very similar to three others along SWB railway (Björbo, Nås och Dala Järna). See my post from 2015 with photos of the 3 stations.

 E18 highway is also built on a bridge over the strait

The new bridge has made it possible to pass over the strait with 200km/h

My next stop is in Grillby (Enköping kommun). Enköping is used to be called "Sweden's closest city".

"Eldblomma" by Bo Andersson located in the park of Anna Lindh. Anna Lindh was a minister of foreign affairs and was murdered 2003 in Stockholm.

Grillby station, without stopping trains since 1972

Railway is passing through the town, hence a fence has been built here. There are however discussions, to create a stop here once again.

Enköping

Here the trains are still stopping

X40 trains are now operated here both for Stockholm-Göteborg and Stockholm-Västerås services.

From Enköping, I'm taking road 55 to transport myself south of lake Mälaren, and Svealandsbanan. Here is Läggesta station.

Svealandsbanan opened 1997 and replaced Norra Södermanlands Järnväg. Läggesta is just a station name, the nearest village is Marielund, but the stations's main purpose is to serve larger villages Mariefred and Åkers Styckebruk, both about 3,5km away from Läggesta.

The new station is located on a hill above the old station.

The old station and railway was shut down 1994, but was rebuilt from a normal gauge to 600mm narrow gauge museum railway named Östra Södermanlands Järnväg. It is operated during the summer to Mariefred and Taxinge Näsby from Läggesta.

The path to museum/heritage railway

To separate the stations, the old station is named as Läggesta lower

Läggesta nedre, and the new bridge for Svealandsbanan.

A cat was posing for me while waiting for the train

SJ regional card reader

A train arriving from Arboga

The railway has 200km/h maximum speed, but it could be to 250km/h with a modern signal technique. This locomotive hauled train is however capable of 160km/h

The line is today used only for regional trains

Art, iron plates with pieces of glass by Kenneth Derlow

Looks nice when the sun is reflecting through the glass

3,5km from Läggest is the old station of Åkers Styckebruk.

The map of the old railway. Some pictures of the old railway

Åkers Styckebruk still has the railway tracks connecting to Svealandsbanan

Styckebruk means manufacturing of artillery while the name Åkers is from the nearby church.

Next stop is Nykvarn. No station house here, the only building next to the station is this pizzeria

Nykvarn is located only 15km from Södertälje and the central part is currently expanding

Train arriving from Stockholm, the trip is only 30min