25 Years of the Upptåget Train Service

On August 19 it is 25 years since the first journey of the Upptåget train was in operation. On the morning of Monday August 19, 1991 the first regular route goes from Tierp to Uppsala.

‘The Upptåget train has had a fantastic development during the first 25 years’, says Bertil Kinnunen (S), Chairman of the Public Transport Board.

“From serving the Tierp - Uppsala route with 15 services in each direction, 39 services are now running on this route today. The Upptåget train service area has during the year expanded to both Gåvle and Sala. The cooperation with SL also includes a commuter train service south from Uppsala towards Knivsta and Arlanda, as well as a commuter train service from Bålsta to Stockholm. This means that today we have a total of over 140 double-journeys by train within the UL service every weekday," says Bertil Kinnunen.

The number of people who travel by the Upptåget train is increasing all of the time. In 2015 a total of 8.1 million journeys were made, including the SL commuter train south of Uppsala. In total, it has made approx. 50 million commuter train journeys during the last 10 years.

During the Upptåget train service’s 25 years rail capacity has also increased. From the railway between Uppsala and Gåvle being almost exclusively being single-track in 1991, there is now a double-track railway all the way except past Gamla Uppsala where the double-track railway will be completed in 2017.

For the coming 25 years the train service needs to develop in the county and the region. As regards the Upptåget train this partly means acquiring bigger trains. Today it is very crowded, especially during peak hours.

In terms of rail capacity measures are required on several routes. The railway between Uppsala and Sala needs to have more places where trains can be met and at least two more tracks are needed on the Uppsala - Stockholm route.

“The railway south of Uppsala is one of the country's busiest and there is an urgent need for four tracks all the way to Stockholm. In addition to measures on existing railways, new railways between Enköping and Uppsala are also an important prerequisite for the attractiveness of the future train service," says Bertil Kinnunen.

For questions regarding this press release, please contact:
Chairman of the Public Transport Board Bertil Kinnunen, 070-763 40 71
UL’s CCO Sture Jonsson, 018-611 19 08.