Public transport in Stockholm County

Reduced fares are for people younger than 20, people older than 65, and students. The latter category does need to present a Swedish university card though - students on universities outside of Sweden do not apply. Children under 12 travelling with adults travel free from Friday noon until Sunday. Children under 7 ride for free with a paying adult; otherwise they pay reduced fare. Aside from the tickets above, you can also choose to use the PAYG (Pay as you go)-system using your SL-card. In this case, you put money onto your card with which you buy single tickets each time you enter the transit network. In PAYG-mode, the SL-card can be charged with amounts of or more than 100 kr.

Tickets are generally only inspected upon entering public transport, so they only need to be valid at the time of boarding a tram or bus, or at the time of entering the T-bana/commuter train system. There is no need to scan tickets when disembarking transport; at gated stations the exit gates simply open when you approach. This means a single ticket can actually be used for much longer than 75 minutes. However, around parts of the network with ungated stations, those being the outer reaches of the network, trams, commuter- and light rail, there are roving conductors so you cannot guarantee the exact time you will be inspected. For these networks, you're encouraged to verify your card at SL-card scan posts at the platforms. Travelling without a ticket that's valid at your time of travel, the stretch of the network you're travelling on, or have no ticket to begin with, will get you penalised with a 1500 kr, as tickets cannot be bought onboard a vehicle. The same price applies for travelling with a falsified card or when travelling with a discounted card that does not apply to you. In addition to this, you pay the price of a single ticket that would apply to you (26 to 39 kronor).

Travel on the entire network has a unified price, though some stretches might additional fees. Most notably, this includes the service to Arlanda. Airport buses, Arlanda Express and regional trains are not part of the SL network, and thus not included in any of these tickets. However, SL does operate certain local buses to Arlanda (582, 583, 592, 593, the latter two only running overnight) on which SL tickets are valid. The same applies to Pendeltåg (Commuter rail) line 40 towards Uppsala C. For travel to Arlanda C, Knivsta and Uppsala, you pay an additional charge.

Consisting of  10  Kungsträdgården — Hjulsta and  11  Kungsträdgården — Akalla, the blue line (Swedish: Blå linje) was first opened in 1975, and consists of 20 stations, one ghost station and nine more stations that are under construction as of 2023. Both routes start at Kungsträdgården from where the line goes west to T-Centralen, where all three lines meet one another. The line continues across Kungsholmen where there are three stations: Rådhuset, Fridhemsplan and Stadshagen. The second, Fridhemsplan, allows for switching onto the green line towards Hässelby Strand. Next, the line splits at Västra Skogen.

From Västra Skogen, line 10 continues to Hjulsta, crossing through Sundbyberg. Along this route, there is only the possibility to switch onto other services at Sundbybergs Centrum  30  43  44 . Line 11 to Akalla, meanwhile, has an interchange at Solna Centrum  30  where it meets the Tvärbanan. After Hallonbergen, a branch off to the blue line's depot follows, after which the longest continuous bit of the metro system follows, where the metro passes through the network's only ghost station of Kymlinge about a minute before reaching Kista. After Kista, the line continues to Husby before terminating in Akalla.

Future expansions to the line are projected for 2026, when line 11 will be extended from Akalla to Barkarby, and in 2030, when both lines will be continued to Nacka and Hagsätra from Kungsträdgården. The Nacka stretch will be entirely newly built, while the Hagsätra extension takes over a chunk of the green line (Hagsätra - Sockenplan). With this extension, Enskede Gård will be disbanded, as will Globen, with a new station serving this area built near the Avicii and Tele2 Arenas.

The red line (Swedish: Röda linje), first opened in 1964, connects from the southwest to the northeast, with line  13  running from Norsborg to Ropsten, and with  14  operating between Fruängen and Mörby centrum. The line counts 36 stations over a total of 41.2 kilometres (25.6 mi). Both services share a large part of their route between Liljeholmen and Östermalmstorg.

The red line has a lot of interchanges with other services:

• Other metro lines: T-Centralen  10  11  17  18  19 , Gamla stan  17  18  19  and Slussen  17  18  19 
• Commuter rail: T-Centralen  40  41  43  44  and Mariatorget / Stockholms södra  40  41  43  44 
• Tram and light rail: T-Centralen  7 , Slussen  25 , Tekniska hogskolan / Stockholms östra  27  28  29 , Ropsten  21  and Liljeholmen  30 
• Ferries: Ropsten  80 

The green line (Swedish: Gröna linje) is the oldest of the Stockholm lines, being opened in 1950 and using pre-metro infrastructure for some parts of its route, most of which being converted tramlines. The green line also has the most services, counting three of them:  17  Åkeshov — Skarpnäck,  18  Alvik — Farsta strand and  19  Hässelby strand — Hagsätra. The termini on the western end of the line (Hässelby strand, Åkeshov and Alvik) are all on the same stretch. On the south end of the line, all services start diverging after Gullmarsplan.

Of course the green line has many interchanges with other services:

• Other metro lines: T-Centralen  10  11  13  14 , Fridhemsplan  10  11 , Gamla stan  13  14  and Slussen  13  14 
• Commuter rail: T-Centralen  40  41  43  44 , Odenplan  40  41  43  44  and Farsta strand  43 
• Tram and light rail: T-Centralen  7 , Slussen  25 , Alvik  30  31 , Gullmarsplan  30  and Globen  30 

As mentioned above, the blue line is due an extension by 2030, at which point the Hagsätra branch (19) will turn blue, and the Globen and Enskede gård stations will be replaced by Slakthusområdet, roughly located between the two. A new line is also under construction, branding from Odenplan towards Hagalund and Arenastaden (Friends Arena). This line is designated as the yellow line, but might be operated as a branch of the green line as well.

There are several distinct ways in which metro stations have been built in and around Stockholm, these are:

• Outdoor stations, either sunken, at-grade or elevated. These are quite simple stations reminiscent of many simple railway stations from the second half of the twentieth century. They're open to the elements but have some platform covering. These were built up to 1972, but mostly built in the 1950s. One of the most recent of these stations, Farsta strand, is already over fifty, and furthermore is a bit of a transitional station, being the only fully covered station that isn't located below-ground. These kinds of stations do happen to be the blandest of the bunch, often featuring quite little in the way of decoration, though some break the mould like Thordhilsplan, which has two distinctive artworks and has its main exit and corridor covered in pixel-art on a sky-blue background.

• "Betongstationer" or Concrete stations: Built in the 1950s, this type of station is mostly found on the central part of the green line, on which S:t Eriksplan, Rådmansgatan, Hötorget and T-Centralen (lower red/green platform) quality. These concrete stations are named after their concrete ceiling slabs, supported by pillars that meet the platform. They are mostly cut-and-cover stations, and thus located very low underneath the city streets. Along with a chunk of Stockholm's architecture from the same period, these are very brutalist buildings that put function over form. These stations often feel cramped as the platforms aren't as big as they are elsewhere on the network, and because the ceiling is rather low.

The decoration too is quite simple, often existing of 15×15cm (6×6 inch) coloured tiles, with a good amount of station name signs mixed in. An interesting part of these stations though, are the integrated shops, of which there are a decent amount at Hötorget. At the time, there were strict rules for shops' opening times, but an exception to this rule was in place for shops connected to public transit waiting rooms.

• Rather more decorated varieties of the concrete stations were built in the 1960s. New building materials hitting the Swedish market and an overall more colourful culture meant that these changes would affect metro stations as well. New materials were used, more art was implemented into the stations, and the stations got more of a pop from this combination. Also taken into consideration here, were how well the used materials could resist graffiti - something that the concrete station's name-giving material was particularly bad at.

As the stations of the 1960s are dug deeper into the ground, and the flat ceiling from the 1950s has made place for a more arched ceiling, giving at least a bit more headroom to passengers, and somewhat counteracting the cramped feeling of concrete stations. The contrast between the two is perhaps best seen at T-Centralen, where the red and green lines use both styles. The upper platform has the arched ceiling, and was built after the lower platform with its concrete ceiling. A unique implementation of the arched ceiling is found at Odenplan, where the arch spans the entire platform instead of a single platform.

The arched stations are mostly found on the red line, mostly between Liljeholmen and Ropsten (excluding those stations themselves, Gamla stan and Slussen), as well as at Mälarhöjden, Aspudden and Midsommarkransen. Fridhemsplan and Odenplan on the green line also fall into this category.

• The practical stations of the 1970s are found around Stockholm's at the time new neighbourhoods. Again, new technologies and materials that this time around were first and foremost cost-cutting were introduced in this time, and this is reflected in the metro stations of the day. Aboveground, the neighbourhoods were mostly rectangular and rough, but belowground, the metro stations were more rounded and soft. This stylistic (and budgetary) choice, saw rise to the more cave-like stations, "Grottstationer" or Cave stations. These stations often use the rough cavities used by blasting into the bedrock that the stations are constructed in. This rough cave-like texture is then covered in shotcrete, which softened the rough shape. This surface was then later on painted and decorated to give each station an unique identity. Quite interestingly, Bergshamra metro station embeds the method in which cave stations are built into its design, showing off the reinforcement bars that were driven into the exposed bedrock, as well as sections that have been covered in a few inches of shotcrete.

In many cases, the use of concrete was also replaced with metal elements where possible. Another (though comparably quite dull) element of the cave stations are that the bedrock that was removed for construction of the station, often was reused in the station as ballast between the rails, where previous stations had their rails on a concrete bed.

The 1970's cave stations can be found on all stations but Kista on line 11 (blue), as well as Sundbyberg centrum, Rinkeby and Tensta on line 10, the red line between Stadion and Mörby centrum (excluding Danderyds sjukhus), as well as one quite far away from these, namely Alby at the far end of line 13 (red).

• The 1980s saw the introduction of the so-called "Trumpetstationer" or Trumpet stations, an upgrade of the cave station. The entire station in this case, consists of a single "cave" that contains the entire platform area. Its name comes from the length-wise profile of these stations. Their ceiling is highest at the bottom of the escalators, and slowly drops in height as you move away from the escalators. In these stations, the artwork becomes more incorporated into the station's architecture. Stations like Rissne, for example, are designed as a timeline of humanity. Your notable events and dates on the one wall, and accompanying maps for context along the other. Another upside of these stations when it comes to maintenance, are that there are relatively few surfaces for graffiti, thus staying cleaner, benefiting you as a traveller on the metro network. These stations also tend to be less noisy.

Trumpet stations are predominantly found on the parts of the blue line that don't have the 1970's cave stations: Hjulsta, Rissne, Duvbo, Solna strand and Huvudsta, but also Bagarmossen and Skarpnäck on the green, and Masmo on the red line.

Not unlike some of the further-out reaches of the London Underground, the Saltsjöbanan was an investment mostly by Knut Agathon Wallenberg (1853-1938) which served to create a quick way for stressed-out Stockholm residents to reach the beaches and recreational facilities around Saltsjöbaden. The line itself was constructed rather quickly, but connecting it to Stockholm itself proved a delicate point, with the two necessary tunnels costing fortunes. Upon completion though, one of these tunnels would be the longest tunnel in all of Sweden at that time. Due to the railway's original goal, many historical stops have a somewhat rural look to them. Trains were steam-hauled from 1893 until 1910, at which point electrification was gradually undertaken.

Since the Slussen-area is undergoing major renovations, the Saltsjöbanan is out of operation until at least the spring of 2024. While not serviced by trains, there are train-replacement buses for most of the routes. Slussen will be reconnected to the network by 2026 at the earliest. Around that point in time, the ageing running stock will also be modernised.

 25  Slussen — Saltsjöbaden is the main line of the Saltsjöbanan. Until 2026, this line starts at Henriksdal. The next stop, Sickla, offers a connection to the Tvärbanan ( 30 ), that in turn connects with most other services at some point. After 2026, Slussen should be reopened, which is when it will offer a direct connection to the red and green lines of the metro again. The line runs through most of the municipality of Nacka, and has one interchange station at Igelboda, where line 26 starts. Line 25 continues to Saltsjöbaden, which has a quay that sees some sporadic service from Waxholmsbolaget's line 18. This line, however, is not integrated into the SL-network and will require a separate ticket.

 26  Igelboda — Solsidan consists of just five stops; Igelboda, Tippen, Tattby, Erstaviksbadet and Solsidan. Interesting about this bit of the line, is that it has one of the more appealing and one of the more repulsive names on the Saltsjöbanan: Solsidan translates as "Sunny side", and Tippen refers to a nearby trash dump.

The Roslagsbanan is a narrow-gauge commuter railway in the north of Stockholm. It consists of a main trunk and three branch lines, served by three lines. All the lines terminate at the East Station (Stockholms östra), which can be accessed by metro via Tekniska högskolan  14 . Plans to extend the service to Odenplan and T-Centralen exist, but are not yet underway.

Originally part of the Stockholm-Rimbo Järnvägen (Stockholm-Rimbo Railway) or SRJ for short, the network ran deep into Uppland. The line to Rimbo was opened in 1885. The Roslagsbanan is one of the oldest electrified railways of Europe, having undergone electification as early as 1892. The line at one point also laid claim to having one of the busiest stations in all of Sweden, that station being Djursholms Ösby and seeing a train stop every three minutes. After World War II, the railway was nationalised, and by 1969, operation of the railway was transferred from national operator SJ to Stockholm County and SL. Following this takeover, some lines were partially closed or closed altogether. This because the network had many problems stemming from its character as a narrow gauge railway, its speed or lack thereof and being out-competed by bus lines. This led to a strong political interest in closing the railway and converting it to metro lines, but public interest was with preservation of the Roslagsbanan. It's thanks to that public support that the Roslagsbanan still exists today, albeit without its original connection to Rimbo, and missing a fourth branch to Svalnäs. Since the sixties, many changes have been made to the network to make its running considerably easier and more profitable.

As the Roslagsbanan is classified as a railway, its stations are indicated with the letter J on signs. All three branches only have interchanges with line  14  of the metro at Stockholms östra/Tekniska högskolan and Universitetet.

The central stretch of railway headed north from Stockholms östra runs mostly segregated from the road network, stopping at Universitetet before crossing the Ålkistan canal. After the canal, the Roslagsbanan has stops at Stocksund, Mörby (close to Danderyds sjukhus on line 14), and Djurholms Ösby, from where the first line branches off. The second branching point is located in the middle of Täby at Roslags Näsby. Three stations lie between both branching points, namely Bråvallavägen, Djurholms Ekeby and Enebyberg. These stations are mostly suburban, though Enebyberg lies close to the Rinkeby forest, which can serve for a nice walk in nature.

The  27  Kårsta-branch is by far the longest branch. After Roslags Näsby, it stops at Tibble, Ensta and Visninge, at which the more rural character of the line starts showing. These three stations are relatively bunched up, as the distance to the next halt at Täby kyrkby is significantly longer. Following Täby kyrkby are Kragstalund, Bällsta, Vallentuna and Ormsta. The few remaining stops on the line are quite far out from one another, and serve rather small towns. These are Lindholmen, Frösunda, Ekskogen and lastly, Kårsta. All of these stops lend themselves well to those who seek some peace and quiet from the bustling city life of Stockholm.

The  28  Österskär-branch heads towards Åkersberga from Roslags Näsby. It stops at Täby centrum, Galoppfältet and Viggbyholm. Once the line reaches Hägernäs, the character of the line becomes more rural. The line briefly runs parallel to the E18 highway, stopping at Arninge along the way, and then leaves the highway, stopping at the rather rural stops of Rydbo and Täljö, after which the line enters Åkersberga. Here, the line calls at Åkers Runö, Åkersberga and Tunagård, before terminating at Österskär. Only at a slight walk from Österskär, you get spoiled with views over the Stockholm archipelago.

The  29  Näsbypark-branch is the first branch, connecting at Djurholms Ösby. From there, the line serves Djursholm with stations at Vendevägen, Östberga and Altorp. After Altorp, the line runs past Djurholms Golf Club's terrain, and then stops at Lahäll, Näsby allé and Näsbypark. Most destinations serve mostly commuters, but Näsby allé is in close proximity to Näsby Slott (Näsby castle), which serves as a high-class restaurant and hotel, but also features a baroque garden.

Spårväg City (City Tramway) is the first tramway to reopen in Stockholm ever since tram services got suspended in 1967. The line runs from the central train station onto the island of Djurgården, passing by many of Stockholm's most notable museums and attractions. The 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) line has eleven stops along its route, with two services running along the line. These are  7  T-Centralen — Waldemarsudde, that runs the entire length of the line, and its shortened version  7N  Norrmalmstorg — Skansen that takes away congestion, and is used for some heritage tram services.

Line 7 starts at T-Centralen, where most of Stockholm's services, including all metro and commuter rail services stop. From there, the line travels to Kungsträdgården, which is at a walking distance of Kungsträdgården  10  11 , the terminus of the metro's blue line. The line continues to Nybroplan, which offers connection to ferries across the archipelago. Of them, only  80  is part of the SL-network. Line 7N calls at Norrmalmstorg, which is a short distance to the west of Nybroplan. From Nybroplan, the route follows Strandvägen, calling at Styrmansgatan and Djurgårdsbron before crossing the bridge onto Djurgården. On Djurgården, the line stops at Nordiska museet/Vasamuseet, which is the stop for the namesake Nordic and Vasa museums. Liljevalchs/Gröna Lund is closer to most other museums; in order of what you pass by tram, these are the Biological museum Spirits museum, Museum of Wrecks, Liljevalchs art hall, the ABBA Museum, and Gröna Lund. The next halt, Skansen, serves predominantly the open air museum of the same name. Some trams terminate here, but others continue to stop at Djurgårdsskolan, after which the line circles around the embassy of Italy, where the tram stops at Waldemarsudde to the south, and Bellmansro to the north. Of these, Waldemarsudde is at a walking distance of Prins Eugens art museum and gallery. Other than that, both halts offer nice starting points for walks across Djurgården. You could cross all of the island, ending at Blockhusudden to the far southeast of the island, from where you can catch ferry 80 or 80X back to Nybroplan.

The Nockebybanan is an unlikely mode of transport for tourists in Stockholm. The line runs through Stockholm's western suburbs. Though the Nockebybanan is the line that'll get you closest to the Drottningholm palace, there are more direct bus services included in the SL-network, that'll get you there directly, namely lines 176 and 177 from Mörby  27  28  29 , though those and lines 309, 312 and 323 all stop at Brommaplan  17  18  19  and connect to Drottningholmen.

The Nockebybanan has a single service,  12  Alvik — Nockeby, that starts at Alvik  17  18  19 , and runs into the suburbs, stopping at Alléparken, Klövervägen, Smedslätten, Ålstensgatan, Ålstens gard, Höglandstorget, Olovslund, Nockeby torg and terminating at Nockeby.

Interestingly, the Nockebybanan rides on both the right and lefthand side, with a switchover happening at Alléparken, which has its Alvik-bound platform on the same side of the track as the Nockeby-bound platform.

Starting at Ropsten  13 , the Lidingöbanan ( 21  Ropsten — Gåshaga brygga) is essentially a continuation of the metro line, crossing the Lilla Värtan on the Lilla Lidingöbron onto the island of Lidingö. Like the Nockebybanan, the Lidingöbanan is suburban in character, but the suburbs it serves are less compact than those along the Nockebybanan.

Once on the island, the line stops at Torsvik/Millesgården, Baggeby, Larsberg, AGA, Skärsätra, Kottla, Högberga, Brevik, Käppala, Gåshaga and Gåshaga brygga. The latter connects directly to a ferry service ( 83 ) that bounces across both sides of the archipelago, eventually making its way back to Strömkajen near Kungsträdgården  10  11 . Near AGA also lies a quay, Dalénum  80 , that connects to the north of the archipelago, or goes back towards the city centre via Djurgården.

The Tvärbanan (Transverse Line) is a light railway circling around Stockholm via the west. The line started operation in 2000, and has since slowly expanded, with its most recent addition being a secondary line branching off to Bromma Airport. The line connects to many other lines, easing congestion and making journeys quicker.

 30  Sickla — Solna station is the main line of the Tvärbanan. It starts in the southeast at Sickla  25 , where the line connects with the Saltsjöbanan, and at a later date will connect to the metro's blue line extension as well. The line is relatively quick along this part of the route as it doesn't need to compete with other motorised traffic, running in the central berm of the streets it follows. Stops until the next interchange are Sickla udde, Sickla kaj, Luma and Mårtensdal. Of these, Luma is at a walking distance to a Waxholmsbolaget quay.

The next interchange is Gullmarsplan  17  18  19 , and the Tvärbanan follows metro line 19 up to the next halt, Globen. Globen is the closest halt to the Arenatorget, where you'll find the Avicii Arena and Tele2 Arena. The Tvärbanan then splits ways with the metro, stopping at the suburban stops of Linde, Valla torg and Årstafältet before calling at Årstaberg  40  41  42X  43  44 , which connects to all but one of the Pendeltåg services heading north for the central railway station and south for Södertälje and Nynäshamn.

Next, the line heads into Liljeholmen, stopping at Årstadal before calling at Liljeholmen itself. That stop in particular offers an interchange with the metro's red line heading for Fruängen and Norsborg in the west. The line next stops at Trekanten and Gröndal. From there, the Tvärbanan follows the E4/E20 highway across the Essingesundet onto the island of Stora Essingen. The line immediately crosses the Oxhålet into Alvik, stopping at Alviks strand (terminus for the branch service to Bromma) and Alvik itself right after. Alvik  12  17  18  19  connects to the metro's green line, as well as the suburban Nockebybanan towards Nockeby.

Line 30 continues to Johannesfred, where the tram might wait for a few minutes to facilitate a change of crew, as this stop is also home to the main depot for the Tvärbanan. The next halt, Norra Ulvsunda is the last stop where lines 30 and 31 share their track. Line 30 becomes slower at this point, having to contend with more traffic as it enters into Sundbyberg and Solna. Here, the line will stop at Karlsbodavägen, Bällsta bro, Sundbybergs centrum  10  43  44 , Solna Business Park, Solna centrum  11  and Solna station  40  41  42X . The halts with interchanges to the Pendeltåg head north to Arlanda and Uppsala (40), Märsta (41/42) and Bålsta (43/44). The metro's blue line connects with Hjulsta (10) and Akalla (11) in the northwest, with both services running towards T-Centralen and Kungsträdgården in the south.

 31  Alviks strand — Bromma flygplats is, as of 2023, a relatively short branch. From Alviks strand to Norra Ulsunda, the line shares its tracks with line 30, with the only interchange being Alvik  12  17  18  19 . The line branches off to connect to the Bromma Blocks mall and Bromma Airport (flyplats). Around 2025, this extension should be more meaningful, continuing to offer interchanges with line 10 at Rissne, line 11 at Kista, and Pendeltåg lines 40, 41 and 42 at Helenelund.