Freight Line Through Skåne

The Freight Line Through Skåne (Swedish: Godsstråket genom Skåne) is a 78-kilometer (48 mi) long railway line between Arlöv and Ängelholm in Sweden. The 19-kilometer (12 mi) long section from Arlöv to Kävlinge is known as the Lomma Line, while the section from Teckomatorp to Åstorp is known as the Söderås Line. Sometimes the Continental Line, from Malmö to Trelleborg, is also regarded as part of the Freight Line Through Skåne. The section from Arlöv to Ängelholm was from 1894 to 2001 part of the West Coast Line.

History

Originally the section from Arlöv to Ängelholm consisted of two private railways, from Arlöv to Billesholm, which opened in 1888, and from Billeshollm to Ängelholm, which opened in 1876. Both were nationalized in 1896 along with many other railways to establish the West Coast Line. The section from Arlöv to Ängelhom was regarded as part of the West Coast Line until 2001, when a new line was opened between Ängelholm and Lund. The Freight Line was electrified in 1933 and 1934. Regional passenger transport was terminated in 1975 from Ängelholm to Teckomatorp, and in 1983 from Malmö to Arlöv and Kävlinge. The section from Kävlinge to Teckomatorp remains as a passenger train section and is used by the Skåne commuter rail.

Today and future

Today the Freight Line Through Skåne is not used much, since there is a bottleneck. The West Coast Line north of Ängelholm over the Hallandsås ridge is single-track, steep and curvy and it is congested with passenger trains. Therefore most freight trains today use the Markaryd Line, a large detour which also congests the Southern Main Line further east. A tunnel, the Hallandsås tunnel, is being built to solve this situation. This tunnel is seriously delayed. It is now planned for opening around 2015, around 20 years later than was assumed at construction start.

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