Europabanan
Encyclopedia
Europabanan is a planned high-speed rail
way planned to be built between Jönköping
and Helsingborg
in Sweden
, with a connection to Hässleholm
. The speed is planned to be 320 km/h. In Jönköping it will connect to Götalandsbanan
, the new high-speed railway Stockholm-Göteborg.
There is also a proposal, but no real plan, to build a railway between Helsingborg
and Copenhagen
including a railway tunnel under the Öresund
. The present Öresund bridge
is congested.
Europabanan will, if built, be used for passenger trains going between Copenhagen-Stockholm, Malmö-Stockholm, Helsingborg-Stockholm, Helsingborg-Jönköping and more connections. The travel time Malmö-Stockholm is expected to be around 3:00 compared to 4:30 today. The travel time Helsingborg-Jönköping would be cut by 2 hours compared to today. The disadvantage with the project is the big cost.
The expected cost is at least 40 billion SEK for Europabanan, not counting the connection to Denmark, an amount that caused political hesitation.
High-speed rail
High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...
way planned to be built between Jönköping
Jönköping
-Notable people:*Lillian Asplund, RMS Titanic survivor*John Bauer, illustrator, painter*Amy Diamond, singer*Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA*Carl Henrik Fredriksson, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Eurozine*Anders Gustafsson, kayaker, Olympian...
and Helsingborg
Helsingborg
Helsingborg is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 97,122 inhabitants in 2010. Helsingborg is the centre of an area in the Øresund region of about 320,000 inhabitants in north-west Scania, and is Sweden's closest point to Denmark, with the Danish city...
in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, with a connection to Hässleholm
Hässleholm
Hässleholm is a locality and the seat of Hässleholm Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 17,730 inhabitants in 2005.-Overview:Hässleholm was gradually developed from 1860 in connection with the construction of the main Stockholm to Malmö railway line. There was no settlement on the spot before...
. The speed is planned to be 320 km/h. In Jönköping it will connect to Götalandsbanan
Götalandsbanan
Götalandsbanan is a planned high-speed railway planned to be built between Södertälje and Gothenburg in Sweden, past Linköping and Jönköping. The planned length is about 440 km...
, the new high-speed railway Stockholm-Göteborg.
There is also a proposal, but no real plan, to build a railway between Helsingborg
Helsingborg
Helsingborg is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 97,122 inhabitants in 2010. Helsingborg is the centre of an area in the Øresund region of about 320,000 inhabitants in north-west Scania, and is Sweden's closest point to Denmark, with the Danish city...
and Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
including a railway tunnel under the Öresund
Oresund
The Sound , is the strait that separates the Danish island Zealand from the southern Swedish province of Scania. Its width is just at the narrowest point between Helsingør, Denmark, and Helsingborg, Sweden...
. The present Öresund bridge
Oresund Bridge
The Øresund or Öresund Bridge is a combined twin-track railway and dual carriageway bridge-tunnel across the Øresund strait.The bridge connects Sweden and Denmark, and it is the longest road and rail bridge in Europe. The Øresund Bridge also connects two major Metropolitan Areas: those of the...
is congested.
Europabanan will, if built, be used for passenger trains going between Copenhagen-Stockholm, Malmö-Stockholm, Helsingborg-Stockholm, Helsingborg-Jönköping and more connections. The travel time Malmö-Stockholm is expected to be around 3:00 compared to 4:30 today. The travel time Helsingborg-Jönköping would be cut by 2 hours compared to today. The disadvantage with the project is the big cost.
Current planning stage
There is a feasibility study ordered by the government supporting the idea about the Europabanan. The study did not include the Öresund tunnel. There is no further planning done. This is in contrast to Götalandsbanan which has a detailed plan along half its strech and (in 2010) one being made for the rest of that railway. There is no decision to build any part of these railways.The expected cost is at least 40 billion SEK for Europabanan, not counting the connection to Denmark, an amount that caused political hesitation.