Lysekil Line

Lysekil Line
Tracks during the off-season in Gåseberg
Overview
Native name	Lysekilsbanan
Status	Seasonally active
Locale	Bohuslän, Sweden
Termini	Munkedal Lysekil
Stations	5
Services	1
Operation
Commenced	1911
Opened	14 June 1913 (1913-06-14)
Completed	1913
Owner	Lysekil Railway ab, 1910–1939; Swedish government 1939–present
Operator(s)	Lysekil Railway ab, 1910–1939; Swedish State Railways, 1939–1988; Swedish Rail Administration, 1988–2010; Swedish Transport Administration, 2010–present
Character	At-grade
Technical
Line length	35 km (22 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius	300 metres (980 ft)
Electrification	Overhead catenary
Operating speed	40 km/h (25 mph)
Highest elevation	50 metres (160 ft)
Map showing line within Sweden

The Lysekil Line (Swedish: Lysekilsbanan) is a branch railway of the Bohus Line, connecting Smedberg and Lysekil in the Swedish province of Bohuslän. Opened in 1913, it is today a single-track, electrified standard gauge line 35 kilometres (22 mi) long. Most of it is located within the Stångenäset Hundred, closely paralleling county road 162.

Because of the hilly terrain it passes through, it has the steepest grades of any Swedish rail line, up to 2.5% in some sections. This was a result of a decision to save money on explosives during construction. Originally, it was a major freight line for the ports on the western coast along the Skagerrak; although those grades limited the amount of freight it could carry.

Regular passenger service ended in 1983, by which time the road and ferry network along the coast had made it much easier to get to Gothenburg by automobile. Thereafter the line was open only during the summer months, primarily carrying vacationers to Lysekil. That service was stopped entirely in 2015, although the track is still maintained for possible future use.

The line diverges from the Bohus Line at a level crossing 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) northwest of Munkedal amid a generally level rural landscape of fields, farms and woodlots. It curves to the south and then almost as soon back to the west-northwest, north of Håby. Over the next 2 kilometres (1.2 mi), it gradually runs more westward and then turns south, crossing under county road 165 and the E6 motorway, and descending, 36 metres (118 ft) from Smedberg to its lowest point outside Lysekil, a stream crossing near Gläborg at 2 metres (6 ft 7 in).