Österlen Line

The Österlen Line (Swedish: Österlenbanan) is a 46-kilometer (29 mi) long railway line between Ystad and Simrishamn in Skåne County, Sweden. The line is the remains of two former lines, the Malmö–Simrishamn Line and the Ystad–Eslöv Line. The Österlen Line runs from Ystad Station, where it is a continuation of the Ystad Line. The line is single track and electrified. It is served by the Skåne Commuter Rail and freight trains.

Österlen Line
Simrishamn Station
Overview
Owner	Swedish Transport Administration
Locale	Skåne County, Sweden
Termini	Ystad Station Simrishamn Station
Service
System	Swedish Railway Network
Operator(s)	Skåne Commuter Rail Skånetrafiken SJ Green Cargo DB Cargo DSB DSB Øresund
History
Opened	1866
Technical
Line length	46 km (28.58 mi)
Number of tracks	Single
Character	Commuter and freight
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	15 kV  16.7 Hz AC
Route map Ystadbanan to Malmö Ystad Köpingebro Tomelilla Lunnarp Smedstorp Gärsnäs Simrishamn Baltic Sea

History

The Österlen Line has historically been two lines: the Malmö–Simrishamn Line and the Ystad–Eslöv Line. The latter was opened in 1866 and was at the time the only railway connection to Ystad. It was connected the other way in 1874 with the opening of the Ystad Line. In 1882 the Simrishamn–Tomelilla Line opened and met the Ystad–Eslöv Line at Tomelilla. In 1893 the Malmö–Tomelilla Line opened, making Tomelilla a hub. Trains from Malmö to Simrishamn were marketed as the Bornholm Express, as they corresponded with the ferry to the Danish island of Bornholm. The various railways were nationalized in the early 1940s, and from the 1950 Y6 diesel railcars were introduced. In 1970, passenger transport from Malmö to Tomelilla was terminated and all passenger trains instead ran via Ystad. Freight transport from Eslöv to Tomelilla was closed in 1975 and in 1981 the passenger trains there were also terminated. In 1985, the SiTY Train was launched between Simrishamn, Tomelilla and Ystad, using Y1 diesel railcars. They were rebranded Österlenaren in the late 1990s.

After SJ in 1991 decided to terminate freight traffic on the section from Köpingebro to Simrishamn, the traffic was taken over by Österlentåg AB. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1994. Eventually Sydtåg started freight traffic, but it also had to fold. In 1996 the Ystad Line was electrified, allowing the Österlen Line to also be electrified. In 1997, Malmöhus County and Kristianstad County were merged to create Skåne County, resulting in the Skåne Commuter Rail being extended from Ystad to Simrishamn. Electrification started in 2001, resulting in the line being closed several summers. At the same time, the line received several upgrades. The electric traction was taken into use on 20 September 2003.