Arlanda Express, Stockholm

When the Arlanda Express was inaugurated in November 1999, it signalled a major step forward for air and surface travel in Sweden. It was suddenly possible to easily and comfortably travel from Stockholm Central Station to Arlanda Airport in just 20 minutes.

The first Arlanda Express train arrived in Sweden in June of 1998, more than one year before the start of regular service. The streamlined express train, with its bright yellow, tapered ends, had been built by Alstom Transport Ltd of Birmingham and was especially adapted for the Arlanda-Stockholm line, with everything this entails in terms of speed, punctuality, comfort and safety. Photo: Tim Jansson Now it was time for an exhaustive series of test runs. A very extensive programme was to be completed before rail service could begin. It wasn't enough that the trains themselves performed flawlessly. They also had to interact with the line's automatic safety system, the signalling system and be adapted to the electrical power conditions. No less than three government agencies were on site to monitor the test runs - the Swedish National Electrical Safety Board, the Swedish National Rail Authority and the Swedish Railway Inspectorate. After a year-long trial by fire, the first Arlanda Express trains began operation on the line i November 1999.