When checking the railway map of Sweden, there are not many places left that I haven't visited. This weekend I decided to visit "kust till kust" banan and Gnosjö station along this line. Unfortunately, the trains on "kust till kust banan" coast to coast railway are not frequent on Saturdays. There are two trains in the morning, and then nothing until later in the evening. In order to catch these two morning trains, I had to go the day before and stay the night in Växjö.
So, on Friday evening I'm stepping into Stockholm Central and having a beer shortly before the departure of my train.
The bar at the station is showing Russian ice hockey
Stockholm C on Friday evening
I'm taking train 505, which is a non-stop train until Alvesta, where I'm going
X2 train from Stockholm C
Leaving Stockholm C
This non-stop train is passing by Södertälje
If purchasing the ticket shortly before departure, one can expect to pay a much higher price than when buying in advance.
For this price, you may see out of order rest rooms
A beer from the bistro on board. It is funny because Mellerud is a place I will visit during this trip.
Björnlunda
At Mjölby, I can spot an X61 train
Passengers are occupied with their gadgets
Arriving at Alvesta.
X11 3170
There is still much activity here at Södra stambanan (Southern main line) late in the evening
Northbound freight train
Alvesta
From Alvesta, I'm taking this X14 3233 Krösatåg to Växjö
Gemla
Krösatåg system is a cooperation between regions of Jönköping, Kalmar, Kronoberg, Halland, Skåne, and Blekinge. They all have their own ticket systems, and this announcement is saying that when travelling in Kalmar, Kronoberg and Skåne - the ticket has to be purchased before boarding the train.
Same train at Växjö
Växjö Cathedral and the construction of new "resecentrum" - a transport hub for busses and trains
X31 train at Växjö
Next day starts with a breakfast at the hotel
Växjö stadshotell from 1840
The new "resecentrum" (travel hub) will open in 2021, until then the area around the station is under construction
The old railway house
At Växjö there is a coupling of two X31 trains sets, one was arriving from Kalmar
After a short trip I'm in Alvesta
X2 train arriving from Malmö
This time of the day I can spot trains that I would usually don't see if I would arrive from Stockholm later during the day, here is train 41131 from Katrineholm to Malmö
This train operated by Hector Rail will also continue to Denmark and Germany after reaching Malmö
241 011 "C-3PO" Traxx F140 AC2
Train 9457 from Göteborg Sävenäs to Älmhult is arriving from "Kust till kust" railway
The train will switch direction here in Alvesta before continuing to Älmhult
Rc4 1268
X11 3175 to Hässleholm
Train 5911 from Gävle to Malmö
Rc4 1301
New locomotive driver is arriving
Train 9757 from Falköping to Karlshamn
Rd2 1094
Finally, my first SJ Regional train is arriving to Alvesta
Rc6 1338
My train is leaving Alvesta together with this X2 train to Malmö. Train 322 from Kalmar to Göteborg is delayed, otherwise I would almost make it with this first X2 train from Stockholm if I would arrive the same day.
Passing by Hjortsberga
Rydaholm
Horda
Bor
Arriving to Värnamo where "kust till kust" railway meets "Halmstad-Nässjö" railway
X11 3107
Rd2 1104 and X14 3230
Between Värnamo and Hillerstorp the railway is passing through Store Mosse National park
Hillerstorp
My train has arrived to Gnosjö, which was my goal for this trip
The station operates only by this non frequent SJ Regional train between Kalmar and Göteborg
As the line do not permit high speeds, the train is of type locomotive and coaches with maximum speed 160km/h. A typical train composition is AB7, B7, BF7, and B7F cars
I have two hours to explore Gnosjö
Apparently there were direct trains to Karlskrona here before
Gnosjö station is a typical wooden station along the line, with many decorations.
It is 10 AM and there are only 2 more trains this day in each direction
The station has today a Thai food shop
Busses from the station to Värnamo and Smålandsstenar
Not so warm today
A "fika" in local cafe
Second hand shop
Fishing license ticket machine
Mat kiosken is a local shop without any personnel
The door is opened with credit card, and there are cameras monitoring the customers
After scanning and paying the customer can leave the shop
"Don't forget to pay"
Gnosjö station was built in 1901
The train from Göteborg is arriving. According to the schedule both trains from Göteborg and Kalmar should meet here at this time, but my train is delayed
Rc6 1406
This train has following coach composition: B7, BF7, B7, AB7
Now, it is time for my next train
Rc6 1347
Vikaresjön
Hestra
Grimsås
Limmared
Länghem
Hillared
Aplared
Before reaching Borås, there some sharp curves on this line which means reduced speed
Målsryd
Gånghester station was once a junction for the railways to Ulricehamn and Värnamo
Arriving to Borås
X12 3218
Borås
The train now continues on the last part between Borås and Göteborg. According to the latest plans from the Swedish government, this part will be replaced by a high speed line reducing the travel time from 1h to 20-30min.
Sandared
SJ Regional do not make any further stops between Borås and Göteborg, however there are a few Västtåg trains operating the line with several stops.
Viaredssjön
One of the most beautiful stations along this line is Hultafors built in 1909
Bollebygd
Rävlanda
Hindås
Landvetter lake
Långenäs
Mölnycke
The train is approaching Göteborg
"Kust till kust" railways meets "Västkustbanan" here near Göteborg
E6 highway
My train has arrived to Göteborg
At the station I can spot X55 with "Åre 2019" livery
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2019 were held from 4 to 17 February 2019 in Åre, Sweden.
What is remarkable here is that this livery is covering all windows and doors - which in my opinion is not the best idea
My next train will be this X61
After a short ride I'm in Älvängen
Älvängen is the terminal for the Västtrafik pendeltåg on this line, the tracks to the right are for the through trains to Trollhättan and Vänersborg
Väner/Norge-banan railway is used for both passenger and freight trains
Rd2 1035
X52 9074 is my next train from Älvängen to Trollhättan
Trollhättan station
X52E 9078 operated by SJ
Öxnered
Brålanda
My next stop is in Mellerud
The old railway hotel
Mellerud station is a typical building along the Bergslagsbanan (now this part is called Vänerbanan). The other identical stations can be found in Åmål, Trollhättan, Öxnered.
Some maintenance vehicles are parked here in Mellerud
Green light
Train 9010 from Göteborg Sävenäs to Karlstad
Rd2 1124 and Rc4 1281
This freight trains has Stora Enso intermodal containers which are bigger than the standard container
Not much raining here
Santa Claus museum
The old roundhouse
3 trains left today (one of which is replaced with bus)
Waiting hall
In order to open the toilet at the station it is required to pay with the telephone and open the door with an sms text message
My next train is a Tågab
Rc3 1041
A compartment inside AB3 coach
Köpmannebro
Åmål
Another train in Säffle
Train 9010 that I saw earlier in Mellerud is now in Säffle too
Tågab Rc2 007 in Grums
Vectron from Hectorrail in Kil
Tågab train has arrived to Karlstad
My last would be this SJ Intercity from Oslo
Unfortunately my trip was interrupted here in Flen. As we were told, there was a maintenance work ahead on the railway that started before the last 2 trains could pass, and apparently due to bad communication between the track operator and the railway companies these 2 trains were missed in communication.
My SJ Intercity at Flen station
The other train was a Snälltåget night train to Åre, seen here on the other side
Since the other train was a night train, most people were probably already sleeping as it was late
A passenger from the night train was smoking at the platform and said hi to me
After 2 hours stop, both train could finally continue to Stockholm C
