Public transport in Stockholm

A red city bus to Ropsten in the centre of Stockholm.

There is a vast number of bus lines in Stockholm County. There are three different kinds of bus lines that differ from regular bus lines.

• Inner-city blue bus lines
• Suburban blue bus lines
• Service bus lines

The blue bus are in the inner city variant trunk lines traversing large parts of the Stockholm inner city, and in the suburban variant acting as important feeder lines between the suburbs and public transport hubs in central Stockholm, or providing crossway connections between suburbs. These are called blue bus lines because the buses that operate on them are painted blue, in contrast to the red color of the regular buses.[2] The service bus lines are especially adapted for elderly people, and are found in certain residential areas. Along some parts of these lines instead of regular bus stops there are areas where one can halt the bus just by waving at them.

The Stockholm Metro consists of three groups of lines (blue, red, green), which are each referred to as a singular line.

The Stockholm metro has been called 'the world's longest art gallery',[4] with most of the network's 100 stations decorated with sculptures, mosaics, paintings, installations, engravings and reliefs.

There are six commuter rail lines. These pass through Stockholm City Station located beneath T-Centralen, unlike other trains of the railroad network that pass through Stockholm Central Station.

There are two systems classified as "light rail" in Stockholm by the SL,[5] the Roslagsbanan, an old narrow gauge rail system, and the Saltsjöbanan with standard gauge rail, both not being connected to the main railroad network. There is a replacement bus connection for Saltsjöbanan between Slussen and Henriksdal station due to Slussen reconstruction project. Roslagsbanan is planned to be extended directly to T-Centralen via a new tunnel.

There are four tram systems in Stockholm and only two of them, Nockebybanan and the new Tvärbanan are connected and share depot and rolling stock. The vehicles primarily used on these lines are a localized version of the Bombardier Flexity Swift; CAF Urbos trams have also been ordered.[6]

There is one heritage tram line operational, Djurgården line.[7] The infrastructure is owned by SL, but the cars are owned and operated by the Swedish Tramway Society. All SL fares are valid.[8]

Ferryboat Hättan on Route 80 (Sjövägen)

As of November 2021 there are four commuter ferry (pendelbåt) lines in Stockholm, administrated by SL. Some are run by Waxholmsbolaget under SL supervision.[9]

Transport across the islands of archipelago is operated by Waxholmsbolaget. The boats depart from Strömkajen, Vaxholm, Stavsnäs, Årsta brygga, and Nynäshamn.[10]

There are also regional and InterCity trains going on the mainlines between Stockholm and cities outside the county. These cities include Uppsala, Gävle, Eskilstuna, Linköping, Västerås. These train are run by SJ on their own, and SJ tickets or special combination tickets called TiM (SJ+SL) are valid.

Arlanda is since 2012 served by the commuter train (Pendeltåg) to Stockholm and Uppsala. The trip takes 38 minutes to Stockholm Central Station and 18 minutes to Uppsala.[11] As of 9 January 2019 there is a supplemental fee of 120 SEK for passing through the railway station at the airport.[12]

The rapid public transport to and from the airports in Stockholm are handled a bit separately than the regular land based public transport as handled by SL, thus they have their own tickets and pricing structure. It is also possible to take regular public transport to and from the airports, but that typically means one has to change between some buses or trains and the trip takes more time.

Being the largest airport in Sweden, it is connected to Stockholm by several means. Arlanda Express provides an airport rail link service between the airport and Stockholm Central Station. It is by far the fastest connection, but also the most expensive. Other possibility is to take a commuter train (Pendeltåg) No. 40 that passes through the airport on its shuttling between Uppsala and Stockholm City Station, but a special fee is applied. This is because Arlanda Express has been built as a public–private partnership project, with the winner having a monopoly on rail transport to the airport. Other rail operators like SL are therefore obliged to pay fees to Arlanda Express. Flygbussarna provides shuttle bus connection from airport to cityterminalen.

Bromma Airport is connected via tram line 31 (Tvärbanan) (as for november 2021, a replacement bus 31B from Johannesfred takes its role). Flygbussarna provides an airport bus service to and from all four airports associated with Stockholm: Stockholm-Arlanda Airport, Stockholm-Bromma Airport, Stockholm-Skavsta Airport, and Stockholm-Västerås Airport.

SL has two main forms of tickets. Both are used for all SL public transport within Stockholm County.[12]

• Travel card — valid during a specified period of time, from 24 hours up to a year, depending on the card.
• Single journey ticket — valid for 75 minutes from activation, within Stockholm County. Single journey tickets are mainly purchased with credits loaded onto an SL Access card.

In either case, the ticket is loaded onto an SL Access RFID card that is scanned at the start of the first journey.

Regardless of the ticket used, journeys by the Stockholm Commuter Rail Pendeltåg to Arlanda Airport, or crossing the county border to Uppsala and Knivsta, incur additional costs. As mentioned above, the additional cost for using the railway station at Arlanda airport is 120 SEK (can be paid either upon arrival, or in advance - then it needs to be used within 2 hours!). Travelling to Uppsala or Knivsta with SL from Stockholm County requires a valid Uppsala County (UL) ticket in addition to the usual SL ticket.

• Note: Applies to SL Stockholm Commuter Rail (Pendeltåg) train only. Other operators have their own tickets including Arlanda Express. (SL Stockholm Commuter Rail (Pendeltåg) as well as National and Regional trains stop at Arlanda Central Station (Arlanda C) while Arlanda Express stops at Arlanda South (first stop): Terminal 2, 3 and 4 and Arlanda North (second and last stop): Terminal 5.)

SL Access RFID card used to hold tickets.

The prices for the most common tickets are as follows.[12] The discounted fare is for persons under the age of 20, or over the age of 65.

Archipelago boat traffic is administered by Waxholmsbolaget. Until 29th April 2022, SL tickets that are valid for at least 30 days (30-day, 90-day, and annual travel cards) are also acceptable.[14][15] It is also possible to pay with SL card credit. The price of ticket depends on length of the journey. Discounted fare is applicable for children under 19, students, and persons 65+. It is possible to buy a return ticket, but the price is the same as for two single journey tickets.[16] Ö-card is for residents only.[17]

The Arlanda Express train between Stockholm central station and Arlanda airport has its own relatively expensive tickets or travel cards for exact number of journeys. Tickets can be bought in vending machines near the platform, or electronic tickets on the internet. Tickets are valid for 90 days. Children under 18 years travel for free when accompanied by an adult.

Flygbussarna provides transportation to four airports in Stockholm. Below are listed prices when tickets are bought online/via app. Adult and youth tickets are up to 20 SEK more expensive when bought by other ways.