Trains and other things: August 2017

Today I'm going back to Stockholm, and stopping along my way at stations along Västkustbanan.

Same view at Malmö C this morning too

After a short ride, I'm in Helsingborg

Knutpunkten station in Helsingborg was built in 1991, 10 years before completion of Västkustbanan from Helsingborg to Lund via Landskrona.

Pågatåg line I'm taking is starting in Helsingborg and since 2015 continuing to Förslöv (with some peak time trains continuing to Halmstad).

Passing by Öresund strait

Today the only single track part of Västkustbanan is here between Helsingborg and Ängelholm and a small part in Varberg. Both are planned to be rebuilt to double track tunnels.

Two new stations opened at the same time as Hallandsåstunnel, here I'm at Barkåkra

Original station opened here in 1880, it changed the name to Vejbyslätt in 1920 and later was shut down in 1980.

Ängelholm municipality paid 40million SEK for this station

Kattarp station was here until 1972 and re-opened in 1999

The end station of the new line is Förslöv, just before the Hallandsåstunnel

The tunnel

Unfortunately the trains heading north through the tunnel do not stop here in Förslöv, so I have to south to Ängelholm first.

I've arrived to Ängelholm

The line to the left is Söderåsbanan and it is used only by freight train, thus bypassing the single track line through central Helsingborg.

Ängelholm railway museum

Da 903 - "world's largest Märklin locomotive" has its own story, since Märklin did not want to paint their models in dark red colour as the real locomotives were. This is the only real Da 903 painted in same colour as Märklin version.

Inside the museum

The station

Ticket counter (closed)

Both Pågatåg and Öresundståg trains stops here

SJ Snabbtåg high speed trains do not stop here. On this route (Malmö-Göteborg), X55 trains are used instead of X2.

A freight train is arriving from Söderåsbanan. It is train 5158 from Malmö to Göteborg

Rc4 1142

Seems that this train is arriving from Europe. Green Cargo has several lines between Sweden and Europe, such as Belgium Direct (to/from Antwerpen), ItalyDirect, and SkandViking (to/from Austria).

I'm leaving Ängelholm and heading north to the next stop along Öresundståg line - Båstad.

SAS plane landing at Ängelholm airport

Vejbyslätt old station

Hallandsåstunnel south entrance

North entrance

Båstad

In 2015 I've visited the old station in Båstad which is now replaced with the new one. Västkustbanan part between Båstad and Halmstad was rebuilt to take a more straight route in 1996, so both Båstad and Laholm stations are located outside the central parts of these towns. It is 4km to Båstad centre.

The new station has a waiting hall.

"Konsttåget" livery of one of the Öresundståg X31

There are four tracks at Båstad, two have platforms, while the other two are for bypassing trains. The line was built for 250km/h, but the current automatic train control system does not allows speeds above 200km/h. There is a plan for upgrading all railways in Sweden to ERTMS (thus it will be possible to use 250km/h here), but so far the high costs have been a worrying factor.

X55 is passing by with 200km/h

Coat of arms for Båstad

Same sculpture as in Förslöv

There are not many buildings around the new station now, but it will eventually change.

Freight train comes out from the tunnel

It is train 4254 from Helsingborg to Göteborg

Rd2 1130

I'm taking the next train. The frequency for Öresundståg is once per hour on a weekend.

Next stop is Laholm.

Laholm new station opened in 1995, and it is located 3km from the town

Here in Laholm as well, there are four tracks for bypassing trains.

Another X55

My next train

And the next stop is in Falkenberg. The station here opened in 2008

It is 3km from the station to the town, and I decided to walk

In the centre, the old station is located

The station is unused by passenger trains since 2008, but seems to be still in place almost 10 years later. The railway here is still used by freight trains to the harbour and some heritage trains.