Nick Art

The Arlanda Express would have been my first choice, followed by SJ trains. However I only learned about the issues when I arrived in ARN where some screens mentioned that all Arlanda Express trains are cancelled, along with the deserted AR ticketing desks.

For me it is the obvious choice as I still get a student discount and when travelling with the family there is some competitive pricing.

GUWonder

I now rarely use Uber in Sweden unless Uber has a discount promo operating for me. Bolt provides me better value than Uber in Stockholm. But when coming from the airport, it’s Arlanda Express when I am in a rush and want a high degree of predictability; otherwise I probably may as well slum it via bus 583/Marsta.

Fredrik74

I don't see a problem with the Märsta/583 route. For someone coming from most places along the commuter train line north of Centralen this is always a decent option especially if Arlanda C isn't working. I get wanting to get to/from ARN quickly but there's a cost too.

pseudoswede

We did the Märsta/583 thing since we decided last-minute to book a hotel at Good Morning Arlanda instead of cleaning my niece's apartment at 4am on the day of departure (and saved a few kronor since we had bought a 24-hour SL pass). The biggest problem for us was that the train to Märsta is in a totally different area of Stockholm C than I thought, so we missed a train. Transfer to 538 was pretty seamless as was the hotel shuttle from T4 to the hotel.

GUWonder

The pendeltag (commuter train) to/from Marsta is deep, deep down under/in CityTerminalen/Centralen or whatever it’s called. That’s the big negative change to it since that deep down area was opened for use and the switch meant these pendeltag no longer use the tracks used to use before that big move toward the center of the earth.

Last week one late afternoon for me, the 583 bus to Marsta was so full and had so many people wanting to use it at SkyCity that a bus load of people had to wait for the next 583 bus to get a ride into Marsta.

Tomas E

All SL commuter trains use the station Stockholm City (its official name - Stockholm central is the old station with non-SL trains) deep underground since it opened in 2017. This meant a quicker change between commuter trains and metro (at least if you simply follow signs rather than get lost in all the tunnels), in particular during rush hours, since passengers no longer get stuck in queues in the connection walkway between Stockholm central and T-centralen. Although the need for more rail tracks through central Stockholm was the overall reason for building it. But changing between regional/national trains and commuter trains (i.e. non-SL to SL trains) now takes a little longer than before.

I suppose SL still operates extra buses, in addition to the regular once every 15 min, so it's about 8 buses per hours?

GUWonder

I suspect pickpockets have harder pickings around the area with the re-flowed traffic since the deep underground tracks opened, but I don’t find it to have made things any easier and faster for me with or without luggage than it used to be in say 2016 for my coming in from or going out to ARN using 583+pendeltag. Well, other than the air conditioning is better.

The gap between the 583s I noticed at ARN was longer than what I would expect if 583 were to then have been running at 8 an hour. There was also a Balsta station line bus. Each of the 583/Marsta buses then were packed like crazy. Balsta buses were not packed like crazy, and I’ve never seen them be packed like crazy. Wish I could say the same for the 583.

Fredrik74

If you're not in a hurry or it's not too late in the evening the 579 to Bĺlsta is perfectly fine. It has a few more stops but it's not terrible. I guess unaware people avoid it because they're told it's 583 they're meant to take.

Both bus routes need to connect to the train at Märsta station so if 579 would arrive at ARN bus stop maybe 5 minutes before 583 it's a no brainer. To ARN it's also obvious you should take whichever bus comes first.

GUWonder

Funny you mention that. A Finnish visitor with a baby and stroller barely missed the 583 due to it being too packed, but she took the 579 as soon as she noticed it was not going to fill up and others waiting for 583 were going to keep waiting for 583. Amusingly, she was unaware of stroller policy for SL buses and got informed about it by some people who kept on waiting for 583. Also, saw some SK flight’s cabin crew members wait for 583 instead of taking 579 while other FAs did as the Finnish visitor. I guess the difference between FAs waiting for SL buses was in part related to being new to the job but not necessarily all that familiar with SL services beyond the car congestion charge zone.
.

Tomas E

Not really sure what to make of your comment since you don't say what type of change you typically do at Stockholm C/Stockholm City? To metro, regional/national train, bus, taxi, travel on foot or something else? And the experience at Stockholm City makes no difference if you take the commuter train to Märsta (+ "the cheapo bus") or the commuter train to Arlanda C since they run from the same platform.

GUWonder

I do different kind of changes upon getting into the city or to get out of it. But in net I am not benefiting with this deep underground track stuff when using SL tickets and it does me no better than I was doing say 7+ years ago for my same routes/changes/traffic patterns then as now.

I do what I can to try to avoid using the commuter trains at Arlanda C. My protest against the Arlanda C surcharge which seems to be there to drive passengers to Arlanda Express and to get ARN arriving and departing passengers to not use it instead of Arlanda Express and Flygbussen.

SK989

That is exactly the aim of the surcharge. The three train stations at Arlanda (Arlanda South and North for Arlanda Express plus Arlanda C for all other trains) are managed by a company called A-train, which owns Arlanda Express. The goal for A-train is of course to get as many passengers as possible to Arlanda Express and thus it is setting the surcharge fee at such a level. The reasons behind this scheme is that A-train contributed with money (in part, not entirely) to finance the infrastructure when it was built in the late 1990s. For this A-train was given the right to use the tracks and stations until the year 2040 and to charge any other company who wishes to use the tracks and stations, like SJ or SL. Is this a good deal for the general public? That is debated. Some claim that without A-train's money the tracks and stations at Arlanda would never have been built. True? Hard do say, honestly.

GUWonder

It seems to be now until 2050 we could be stuck in this situation?

https://www.arlandaexpress.com/about-us/about-atrain

Never have otherwise been built? If that is true, it would be a condemnation of the country’s ability to do infrastructure projects ever since then. Rather I think it’s a sign of an unwillingness of the government to negotiate hard with infrastructure-supporting “partners” and of the government being way too much into seeking of a consensus within and with big companies. Prioritizing the public’s interest with delivering on infrastructure takes a back seat to way too much, and thus we end up overpaying over time.

I think the tracks and at least one station would have been built anyway even without the government being so willing to hop into the sack with A-Train and stay dedicated to it.

CPH-Flyer

It is so nice to run something on market conditions when you have an exclusive concession.

GUWonder

The company had to peddle its self-serving narrative there, so glad you called it out.