Rail and bus travel in Sweden

Sweden has an extensive railway network. Long-distance lines are operated by the government-owned company SJ AB, or by private enterprises. Regional public transportation, both by rail and bus, is provided by the counties, län, or associations of those. There are also some commercial bus services.

Planning

The transport carriers in Sweden operate a ticket platform called Resplus for multiple-leg travel. See Resrobot for an interactive journey planner.

Using Google Maps to find train connections to build an itinerary can work very well if you are doing it weeks or months ahead of time. If you are close to the day of travel, or you are on the ground, you may find that you have more data than Google and their data can sometimes be wrong. Or Google Maps may not offer you the best connection points when there are multiple stations at which you can make the connection. Double check your plan with staff at a station, if you are booking within a few days of travel.

National rail carriers

While rail travel is deregulated in Sweden, national carrier SJ remains the market leader. While rail speed is far behind countries such as France and Germany, rail is a good option for intercity travel.

Many routes connect to Copenhagen and Oslo, and some to Trondheim, Narvik and Berlin. Railways in Finland have a broader track gauge, and are therefore not connected to the Swedish rail network. Furthermore, most of the area where Sweden and Finland share a land border is extremely sparsely populated. There is a double gauge railway at the border in Haparanda/Tornio but no passenger trains use it.

Tickets can be bought either through Resplus or directly from the specific carrier, and are normally reserved for a specific train departure. Regional public transport tickets might be used for any regional public train departure within a given time, but those tickets are normally not valid on national rail carrier trains.

SJ

To buy a railway ticket from SJ, or to obtain information, call +46 771 75 75 75 or check the SJ website. As of summer 2009, the cheapest SJ tickets are released exactly 90 days before departure, so time your online ticket purchases carefully if your itinerary is set and don't buy tickets earlier than 90 days before your trip. Because point-to-point tickets are quite expensive, for more train journeys in Sweden European rail passes might be useful. If you are travelling to small towns in Sweden and you need to journey long distances from there, do not leave your tickets unbooked until the last minute. The busy trains that would offer you fast travel and better connections can get sold out during the summer, sometimes a few days in advance.

Unlike on most European trains, bicycles are not allowed on any SJ trains, except for foldable bicycles, which count as regular luggage.

There are sleeper train services between Stockholm and Malmö as well as between Gothenburg, Stockholm and the northern parts of Norrland. The night trains can be delayed several hours in bad winter weather.

VR

Finnish national rail operator VR has a fast train between Stockholm and Gothenburg (Formerly MTR Express), with seasonal service to Halland and Skåne. Tickets are sold only on https://www.vrresa.se (not from machines or Resplus). They serve food on board.

Snälltåget

Snälltåget (brand name operated by Transdev, formerly Veolia) operates some rail lines; from Malmö to Berlin, Stockholm and Åre (during ski season, from December to April).

Norrtåg

Norrtåg ("North Train"), is a regional rail carrier in Norrland.

Flixtrain

A subsidiary of the German Flixbus, the first non-German Flixtrain runs from Stockholm to Gothenburg. Tickets cost €15–€35 depending on how early you book the tickets.

Famous rail lines

Inlandsbanan
Norrbotten Megasystem, an industrial cluster built around the 500-kilometre Iron Ore Line through Norrbotten County.

Regional public transportation

Regional public transport can include commuter rail, tram, metro (in Stockholm), bus or boat (in the Swedish archipelagos), and is usually provided by the counties (län), under the brand name of the county owned traffic company.

Tickets are normally sold by the county owned traffic company. Ticket rules vary substantially. For regional trains it is normally possible to buy a ticket through SJ (see below) even if it is a county operated train. Depending on how small a town is, there may not be staff at the train station to sell you tickets. Look for an automated machine in this case, which will walk you through the booking process. They are usually found in enclosed glass buildings that can often be mistaken for a bus stop (but they will be on the platform).

Unlike on SJ trains, it is common on regional trains for the announcements to be made in Swedish alone. Rail carriages do have LED displays would show what station is next and other information. Note what your station names should sound like and listen to the Swedish announcements to hear whether they might concern you. Ask your fellow passengers or a passing-by train conductor to find out more. It is rare to find a Swede who doesn't speak English at some level.

There should be more information in the region articles.

South	Central	North
Blekinge Gotland Halland Jönköping - see Småland Kalmar - see Småland Kronoberg - see Småland Scania or Skåne Västergötland Östergötland	Dalarna Public transport in Stockholm County Södermanland Uppsala County Värmland Västmanland County in eastern Västmanland Örebro in Närke and western Västmanland	Gävleborg Jämtland Norrbotten Västerbotten Västernorrland

For instance, when travelling regionally in the province of Scania (Skåne in Swedish), one should refer to Skånetrafiken.

Tickets

City and county buses are part of the county's public transit system. Check out the local arrangements for how to obtain tickets. In many Swedish cities it is not possible to buy tickets for the city buses at the bus. In this case neither cash nor bank or credit cards are accepted. Instead you need an electronic bus card, a special card for each region, that sometimes also has to be filled with a minimum amount of money, typically 100 kr. This bus card can sometimes be obtained only at dedicated ticket offices, not at the bus, but can often be filled with money for travel at local shops or refill machines that are found at public places. This does not apply to countryside and long distance buses, where you normally can buy tickets from the driver.

For trams, there are (Gothenburg/Norrköping) normally machines onboard or (Stockholm) salesperson onboard. For Stockholm metro and commuter trains, tickets are sold at the station entrances.

In general, tourists are advised to buy one-day or multi-day passes, which cover access to local public traffic.

Urban rail

Stockholm has a metro line known for its art; see Stockholm County#Stockholm Metro, as well as light rail lines in some suburbs.

Gothenburg and Norrköping are known for their iconic trams.

Commercial buses

See also: Intercity buses in Europe

Flixbus and Nettbuss run a number of bus lines in the southern third of the country (Götaland and Svealand). They tend to cost less than going by train, if you can't take advantage of SJ's youth discounts. Y-buss, Härjedalingen and Tapanis Buss operate between Stockholm and Norrland.

Flixbus also operates from Stockholm and Gothenburg to Oslo.

At the county level, buses are a good method for travelling short distances from town to town, as they are more frequent and cheaper than trains. It is best to check with the local transportation authority for routes and schedules.

Flygbussarna

Flygbussarna, Airport Coaches, are a private enterprise specialising in transfer between airports (or ferry terminals) and city centres.