Lidingö is an island at the northeastern edge of Stockholm. It is not part of Stockholm, but is an independent municipality.
There were originally two rail lines on Lidingö: the North Lidingö line, line 20, which opened in 1907, and the South Lidingö line, line 21, which opened in 1914. Each line had its own ferry terminal on the southwestern edge of the island, line 20 at Islinge, line 21 at Herserud. (The lines originally did not have line numbers, but were simply referred to as "Norra Lidingöbanan" and "Södra Lidingöbanan." They received line numbers when they began running over the bridge into central Stockholm; see below.)
In 1925, the Lidingö bridge was opened. This was a double-track bridge with sidewalks on either side. Street rail was laid on the bridge, permitting the use of the bridge by automobiles as well. The two Lidingö lines began running over the bridge to a shared central terminal near Humlegården park in central Stockholm. It was also at this time that Brogrenen ("the bridge branch") stop came into use, and services were timetabled so that it was convenient to transfer between the two lines for travel between the northern and southern parts of Lidingö, which are separated by an inlet that cuts deep into the island from the eastern end.
New cars were purchased for both lines in the late 1940s. Unfortunately, line 21's depot at Aga was destroyed by fire on the night of 18-19 September 1949, along with most of its newly purchased cars, a few of its older cars, and some of the northern line's cars that were temporarily stationed there. Service was maintained by borrowing cars from Stockholms Spårvägar (Stockholm Tramways) and from the northern line.
In 1967, the underground (system 2, now designated as red) was extended to Ropsten on 2 September, the same weekend that Sweden switched over from left-hand to right-hand road traffic, and the same weekend that the streetcar lines in central Stockholm were abandoned. (The only streetcar line running within the city of Stockholm was line 12, Nockebybanan, in outer Stockholm, until 1991, when a museum line was established between Norrmalmstorg and Djurgården in central Stockholm.) The two Lidingö lines were cut back to a common terminal station at Ropsten.
The last train on line 20, the North Lidingö line, ran on 12 June 1971. Line 21 is still in service, and forms the backbone of public transport for southern Lidingö. Convenient bus transfers have also been instituted at three of its stops to ease travel between the northern and southern parts of the island.
The cars in service on line 21 are the cars acquired in the late 1940s, but they were rebuilt and modernized over a period of about three years around 1990.
Here is a list of the stations and stops on line 21, with links to the pages that cover them. (Please note that some pages cover more than one station/stop; the numbers of photos shown refer to the entire page and are intended to help you decide whether or not to open the page.)
Ropsten (7)
Brogrenen (4) -- no longer in service
Torsvik (18) (including Herserudsbacken)
Baggeby (18)
Bodal (12)
Larsberg (12)
Aga (16)
Centralvägen (5) (last day of service, 3 September 2000)
Skärsätra (15) (first day of service, 30 October 2000)
Parkvägen (12) (last day of service, 3 September 2000)
Kottla (13)
Högberga (13)
Brevik (14)
Käppala (14)
Talludden (14)
Gåshaga (15)
Gåshaga brygga (15) (first day of service, 7 May 2001)
For more photos and a map of Lidingöbanan, see the following site:
Stefan Nicolaisen's Lidingöbanan site