Kinnekulle Line
The railway line Gårdsjö - Håkantorp is a single-track, 121 -kilometer-long, now standard gauge, not electrified railway line in Västra Götaland County in Sweden. It runs from Gårdsjö after Håkantorp. The track is after the Table Mountain Kinnekulle, which lies on the route, named.
Since the naming by Banverket in 1990, the route is designated as Kinnekullebanan. This is an art term that was coined long after the construction of individual track pieces under other names. Today the route of regional trains, the Kinnekulletåget will sail, which run between Hallberg, 50 kilometers north of Gårdsjö, and Herrljunga, 27 kilometers south of Håkantorp.
History
When the Västra stambana ( Western Main Line ) was built from Stockholm to Gothenburg, a dense network of narrow gauge railways with the track gauge was in Skaraborg län 891 mm, the cities like Mariestad, Skara and Lidköping combined with the main line and connections created between them. In 1900 came Västergötland - Göteborgs järnvägsaktiebolag ( VGJ ) and Lidköpings Järnvägar (LJ).
VGJ was established to connect the narrow gauge networks in Västergötland and Göteborgs och Bohus Lan, in order to upgrade the entire network and to open up the hinterland of the city of Gothenburg. The company built some rail lines themselves, joining a number of narrow- island networks by renting or buying.
LJ was a consortium that was established for the joint management of railway companies in Skaraborg County, who were wholly or partially owned by the city of Lidköping.
VGJ and managed by LJ independent companies has been taken over as part of the general railroad nationalization of Statens Järnvägar (SJ ) in 1948. Large parts of the narrow gauge network were shut down. The lines that form the Kinnekullebana today were rebuilt in the 1950s and 1960s to standard gauge.
The historic range parts for the now -called Kinnekullebanan railway Gårdsjö - Håkantorp were:
- Håkantorp -Lidköping, 1877 järnvägsaktiebolag built ( HLJ ) by Lidköping- Håkantorps,
- Lidköping- Forshem, 1897 /98 Kinnekulle - Lidköpings järnvägsaktiebolag ( Ki. LJ ) built in,
- Forshem - Mariestad, 1889 järnvägsaktiebolag built ( MKJ ) by Mariestad Kinnekulle and
- Gårdsjö - Mariestad, 1910 built by Västergötland - Göteborgs järnvägsaktiebolag ( VGJ ).
Details on the nationalization of the individual railway companies as well as the conversion to standard gauge are found in the line items.
Route description
The route branches off at Gårsdsjö of the Västra stambana to the west. It leads through the woods Tivedens to Hova, cruises at Lyrestad the Göta Canal and reached shortly before Mariestad Vänern. Between Mariestad and Lidköping the web follows the shore of the lake, the route of Hällekis to Källby at the foot of Table Mountain runs Kinnekulle. This route is considered the most scenic part of the railway line. Along the bay of Kinneviken it reaches the Lidköping. From there, the distance across the Västgötaebene Håkantorp to where the web connects with the Älvsborgsbana runs.
Operation
Passenger transport is organized by the regional Transport Association Västtrafik, the institution responsible for the operations management from 2000 to 2003 BK Tåg AB and from 2003 to June 13, 2009, Veolia Transport, before 14 June 2009 to first in 2016 Arriva Sverige took over the services. Freight is operated on the Hallberg- Mariestad section.
Since 2005, the passenger is carried out with diesel railcar types Y31/Y32. Only in individual trains of railcars Y1 is employed.
On weekends there is severe traffic. Several trains run on Håkantorp until Herrljunga and Gothenburg, as well as on Gårdsjö by Hallberg and Örebro. The track has no clock traffic, but is aligned as required. To run in the morning and evening hours, the trains according to the commuters in the large cities, in the morning and early afternoon drive times, no trains.