Skånetrafiken
Encyclopedia
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....
.
Skånetrafiken was founded in 1999 when the two counties Kristianstads län and Malmöhus län were merged into one region. During this merger the two respective transport authorities were amalgemated. Presently, Skånetrafiken is a part of the regional government of Region Skåne.
The principal mission of Skånetrafiken is to plan for and market public transport in Skåne as well as procure and organise the work of private transport companies who run the transport services for Skånetrafiken. The private companies offer bids to run routes or staff certain functions for Skånetrafiken.
The main office is located in 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...
with a second office in Lund
Lund
-Main sights:During the 12th and 13th centuries, when the town was the seat of the archbishop, many churches and monasteries were built. At its peak, Lund had 27 churches, but most of them were demolished as result of the Reformation in 1536. Several medieval buildings remain, including Lund...
. The managing director of Skånetrafiken is Magnus Hedin.
Public transport services
Skånetrafiken organise train services on several lines within Skåne, called PågatågSkåne commuter rail
The Skåne Commuter Rail is a commuter rail system in Skåne County, Sweden. The system also acts as a regional rail system, as it serves other cities over from the principal city of Malmö.- Lines inside Skåne :Local trains, called Pågatåg...
, which are currently delivered under contract by Arriva
Arriva
Arriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus operations in 12 countries across Europe, employs more than 47,500 people and services over 1.5 billion passenger journeys each...
. These are supplemented by the Öresundståg
Oresundtrain
Oresundtrain or Øresundståg is a regional rail network serving the Oresund Region. The train consists of multiple units manufactured by Bombardier Transportation in Kalmar, previously known as Kalmar Verkstad and lately in Hennigsdorf by LEW Hennigsdorf...
, regional train services which cross into Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and neighbouring counties in Sweden. The entire Öresundståg network is operated by DSBFirst
DSBFirst
DSBFirst is a Danish-British railway company that since January 2009 is an operator on the Oresundtrains, serving Denmark and southern Sweden. The company is an alliance between Danish DSB and British FirstGroup, its headquarters being located in Malmö, southern Sweden. From december 11 2011...
, a consortium of the Danish national railway DSB and Britain’s FirstGroup; prior to 2009, these trains were operated jointly by DSB on the Danish side, and their Swedish counterpart SJ
SJ AB
SJ is a government-owned passenger train operator in Sweden. SJ was created in 2000, out of the public transport division of Statens Järnvägar, when the former government agency was divided into six separate government-owned limited companies.-Overview:SJ's operations fall broadly into subsidised...
on the Swedish side.
Urban bus services are available in 10 cities and towns in Skåne with the majority of services in Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
, 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 Lund
Lund
-Main sights:During the 12th and 13th centuries, when the town was the seat of the archbishop, many churches and monasteries were built. At its peak, Lund had 27 churches, but most of them were demolished as result of the Reformation in 1536. Several medieval buildings remain, including Lund...
. Regional buses routes that connect cities and town operate throughout Skåne. A colour scheme is used to distinguish urban from regional/inter-urban buse: the former are green whereas the latter are yellow. On a similar principle, Pågatåg trains are painted mauve with a red stripe, while Öresundståg vehicles are primarily silver-grey.
Skånetrafiken makes a distinction between three sub-types of yellow regional buses: Pendeln, which are frequent commuter bus lines (between for example Höganäs
Höganäs
Höganäs is a locality and the seat of Höganäs Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 13,550 inhabitants in 2005.Höganäs is nationally known for its ceramics industry, Höganäs Keramik. Höganäs Keramik is part of Iittala Group....
and Helsingborg, or between Lund and Malmö); SkåneExpressen, which travel greater distances between larger towns with few stops (similar in a sense to trains) and which cater to long-distance travellers; and the other, remaining, regional buses which Skånetrafiken has yet to differentiate and give a name.
Depending on the results of the bidding process, different bus companies are awarded contracts for bus lines. The principal bus companies running bus services for Skånetrafiken are Veolia Transport
Veolia Transport
Veolia Transport is the international transport services division of the French-based multinational company Veolia Environnement...
, Arriva
Arriva
Arriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus operations in 12 countries across Europe, employs more than 47,500 people and services over 1.5 billion passenger journeys each...
, Swebus
Swebus
Nobina Sverige , part of Nobina Ltd, is the leading Swedish bus company, with 8,700 employees, 3,000 buses, and net sales of 327 million euro...
, and Bergkvarabuss.
Some services for transportation of handicapped people are also run by Skånetrafiken under the name of Serviceresor. Additionally, Skånetrafiken operates a boat service between Landskrona
Landskrona
Landskrona is a locality and the seat of Landskrona Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 28,670 inhabitants in 2005.-History:The city of Landskrona was founded at the location of Scania's best natural harbour, as a means of King Eric of Pomerania's anti-Hanseatic policy, intended to compete...
harbour and the island of Ven
Ven
Ven may refer to:* Ven, Sweden, a Swedish island*Ven, Tajikistan* Ven , a hamlet in the Netherlands* Ven , a hamlet in the Netherlands* Ven, Heeze-Leende, a hamlet in the Netherlands...
.
Buses to/from airports are not formally a part of Skånetrafiken at this time.
Some train and bus services between Skåne and the adjoining counties of Blekinge
Blekinge
' is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden , situated in the south of the country. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea.The name "Blekinge" comes from the adjective bleke, which corresponds to the nautical term for "dead calm"....
, Halland
Halland
' is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden , on the western coast of Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat.-Administration:...
and Kronoberg are organised in conjunction with corresponding regional transit authorities in the respectice counties.
Patronage/ridership
Skånetrafiken has been experiencing increasing patronage on all of it services and most of it lines for a number of years . Figures for 2006 to 2008 appear below:| Type of service | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | Change 06-07 | Change 07-08 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urban (city) buses | 54,587,865 | 57,916,228 | 60,394,737 | 6.1 % | 4.2 % |
| Regional buses (all types) | 28,800,485 | 29,805,811 | 30,920,784 | 3.5 % | 3.7 % |
| Trains | 28,631,288 | 32,826,857 | 36,136,241 | 14.7 % | 10.1 % |
| Trains within Skåne | 21,118,000 | 23,331,000 | 25,600,000 | 10.5 % | 9.7 % |
| Trains to/from Denmark | 7,513,288 | 9,495,857 | 10,536,241 | 26.4 % | 11.0 % |
| Journeys total | 113,370,585 | 121,859,553 | 128,698,604 | 7.5 % | 5.6 % |
Note that the Trains within Skåne fields are an estimate based on number of tickets sold by Skånetrafiken.
Tickets, prices and ticketing system
Skåne is divided into a number of zones. The price of a trip is determined by the number of zones crossed during a particular journey. The cost of a trip on an urban buses in only one zone will vary slightly between cities and towns.
Tickets can be purchased in cash, as part of a debitcard system, or via a 30 day transit pass. Tickets for single journeys on busses are bought from the driver. From 2009 both debitcard and passes are contact-less cards called "jojo". On buses, the card is held in front of the card reader onboard. On trains, debit card holders buy a ticket in advance from machines on or near the platform. Pass holders just board the trains.
The debitcard can be refilled with cash (i.e. trips) at Skånetrafikens Customer Centres or at an affiliated organization. 30 day passes can be bought at the same locations. The 30 day passes can be purchased for a varying number of specified zones. An entire county 30 day pass is also available.
Prices are set by Skånetrafiken. During recent years prices have gone up, in part to finance new trains. There is no senior citizen discount. However, recently 17-19 year olds have been reclassified as "children" who thus pay only half the adult fare. This, according to Skånetrafiken, is part of a long term goal of increasing patronage as the habit of using public transportation over cars should be reinforced during the later teenage years.
Criticism
The entire ticketing system in Skåne was switched in 2009 when the debit card and 30-day commuter cards have been merged into a common smart card system. Originally, this conversion was planned to be operational by 2007.Skånetrafiken has been criticised, particularly in 2007, for not being sufficiently quick and decisive in response to increases in patronage. The success of some routes has been so good that overcrowding has plagued some train and bus services for months with no response on the part of Skånetrafiken; this has been particularly the case for rush-hour train service to and from Denmark. There has been more criticism during 2009/2010: for crowding in the Malmö station which is being rebuilt. Skånetrafiken claims to have made changes in internal decision procedures to catch these problems more quickly in the future. The Malmö Central station has no room for more trains until a new tunnel is opened in the winter 2010–2011. It is not possible to rent or buy any old train for the traffic to Denmark, since both rail authorities have many requirements meaning custom made trains must be bought. New trains have now been ordered.