Blue line (Stockholm metro)

The Blue line (Swedish: Blå linjen; officially Metro 3, but called Tub 3 ("Tube 3") internally[2]), is one of the three Stockholm metro lines. It is 25.5 kilometres (15.8 miles) long, and runs from Kungsträdgården via T-Centralen to Västra skogen where it branches in two, and continues to Hjulsta and Akalla as lines 10 and 11 respectively.

Blue line
Kungstradgarden station
Overview
Native name	Blå linjen
Type	Rapid transit
System	Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL)
Locale	Stockholm, Sweden
Stations	20 + 9 under construction + 1 unopened
Services	10  Kungstradgarden–Hjulsta  11  Kungstradgarden–Akalla
Daily ridership	208,600 (2018)[1]
Operation
Opened	31 August 1975 (1975-08-31)
Character	Underground subway and at–grade-separated
Technical
Line length	25.5 km (15.8 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	third rail
Route map

Blue line
to Barkarby (under construction)   under Barkarby construction   Barkarbystaden Akalla  11  Husby  10  Hjulsta Kista Tensta Rinkeby Kymlinge depot Rissne Hallonbergen Duvbo Tvärbanan Sundbyberg Sundbybergs centrum Näckrosen Solna strand Huvudsta Solna centrum Västra skogen Stadshagen Green line Fridhemsplan  17   18   19  connection to Green line Red line Rådhuset Red line T-Centralen 13 │ 14 17│18│19 Stockholm City Kungsträdgården  10   11  Green line to Nacka & Hagsätra (under construction) Green line Sofia  17   18   19  Gullmarsplan under construction Slakthusområdet Hammarby kanal connection between lines Sickla Sockenplan Järla Svedmyra Nacka centrum Stureby Bandhagen Hagsätra branch to be transferred to Blue line Högdalen depot Rågsved  19  Hagsätra

History

Groundbreaking occurred on 2 September, 1966 and the line was opened nine years later on 31 August 1975, between T-Centralen and Hjulsta via Hallonbergen. On 5 June 1977, the branch from Hallonbergen to Akalla opened, and on 30 October the same year, the line was extended in the opposite direction from T-Centralen to Kungsträdgården. The next section opened, on 19 August 1985, was between Västra skogen and Rinkeby via Sundbybergs centrum. At that time line 10 was dfiverted over this section, and no more passenger trains operated on the Hallonbergen–Rinkeby section. Since then the section has only been used for access to the depot in Rissne.

The primary reason for constructing the line was the need for public transport to the large residential areas in the northwestern part of Stockholm, built during the period 1965–1975. Several of these areas, however, were without rapid transit during the first years because the opening of the metro was delayed until 1975. During those years Tensta and Rinkeby were served by feeder buses from Spånga station.

The blue line was more costly to build than the previous lines because the general requirements for building design increased over the years. The total cost of the Blue Line was approximately 1.4 billion kr in 1975 currency.[3]

Opening dates

Section	Date
T-Centralen–Hallonbergen–Hjulsta	31 August 1975
Hallonbergen–Akalla	5 June 1977
T-Centralen–Kungsträdgården	30 October 1977
Västra skogen–Sundbybergs centrum–Rinkeby	19 August 1985
Akalla–Barkarby	(2026)
Kungsträdgården–Nacka Kungsträdgården–Hagsätra	(2030)

Future plans

Nacka and Gullmarsplan

When the blue line was designed during the boom years of the 1960s, there were also plans to build an extension from Kungsträdgården to Nacka, but they were not realized. However, in 2013, it was decided that the line will run from Kungsträdgården to Nacka centrum via Sofia, Hammarby canal, Sickla and Järla. Construction was expected to have started in 2019 and completed seven to eight years later.[4][5] A new bus terminal will be built at Nacka centrum to relieve congestion at Slussen for services to different parts of Nacka and Värmdö municipalities.

The transportation review also included an extension from Sofia to Sockenplan, which would include transferring the Hagsätra branch from the Green line to the Blue. The route through the Slakthus area was finalised in May 2015, along with a new underground station to replace Globen and Enskede gård on the Green line. Construction started in 2019, and service is expected to begin in 2030.[4][5]

Akalla to Barkarby

An extension beyond Akalla was approved for line 11. An intermediate station will serve the new Barkarbystaden residential area, and the line will terminate at the Stockholm commuter rail Barkarby station, allowing revisons to the commuter serivce. Official groundbreaking took place in September 2018, with completion now scheduled for 2026.[6]

Route

At 25.516 kilometres (15.855 mi), the Blue line is the shortest of the Stockholm metro; however, the entire line is north of the Mälaren. Line 10 runs between Kungsträdgården and Hjulsta and includes 14 stations. Line 11 runs between Kungsträdgården and Akalla and includes a total of 12 stations (ignoring the Kymlinge "ghost station" which was never completed). Six of the stations are served by both lines. The blue line carries an average of about 208,600 passengers per day (2018),[1] or 55 million per year (2005).

Stations

In total, the Blue line has 20 stations, of which 19 are underground and one (Kista) is on the surface. The tunnel between Hjulsta and Kungsträdgården is the longest of the system at 14.3 kilometres (8.9 miles), and is also Sweden's longest tunnel. (However, metro tunnels are usually omitted from lists of the country's tunnels.) Although the Blue line is almost entirely in tunnel, it also has the metro's longest elevated section at Kista, 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) long.

The 11 busiest stations (by number of boardings on a winter weekday in 2018) are:[1]

Rank	Station	Passengers
01	T-Centralen	42,200
02	Fridhemsplan	23,200
03	Kista	20,700
04	Stadshagen	14,000
05	Sundbybergs centrum	11,500
06	Rådhuset	11,300
07	Solna centrum	10,600
08	Kungstradgarden	08,300
09	Västra skogen	08,000
10	Rinkeby	07,600
11	Hallonbergen	07,500

References

1. "Fakta om SL och länet 2018" [Facts about SL and the County 2018] (PDF) (in Swedish). Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. pp. 51, 66–67. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
2. Trafiksäkerhetsinstruktion för tunnelbanan, ändringstryck 6 (SL-2008-16140) [Traffic Safety Instruction for the Metro, revision 6] (in Swedish) (5.0 ed.). Stockholm, Sweden: Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. 2008.
3. Per Sillén (7 December 2011). "SJK Postvagnen - Arkiv 2008-2018" [SJK Postvagnen - Archive 2008-2018] (in Swedish). Svenska Järnvägsklubben [Swedish Railway Club].
   Stockholms tunnelbanor 1975 [Stockholm's Subways 1975] (in Swedish).
4. "Blå linje till Nacka" [Blue line to Nacka]. Region Stockholm (in Swedish). Stockholm, Sweden: Region Stockholm. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
5. "Nytt om Tunnelbana till Nacka och söderort" [News about Subway to Nacka and southern town] (PDF). Region Stockholm (in Swedish). Stockholm, Sweden: Stockholm County Council. July 2016. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
6. "Tunnelbana till Barkarby" [Subway to Barkaby]. Stockholms läns landsting (in Swedish). Stockholm County Council. Archived from the original on 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2016-07-24.