Transportation in Uppsala and Surrounding Areas (2025 Update)

This article was first published on Uppsala University’s Zhihu platform (https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/590668337). However, because Uppsala province changed its transport payment system, some content is no longer correct, so we updated it. Thanks to the original author Wadlo for their contribution.

Geographic Areas and Local Transport Operating Zones - What’s the Difference?

The beautiful city of Uppsala sits within Uppsala University campus. But “Uppsala” can mean either Uppsala Province (Uppsala län) or Uppsala Municipality (Uppsala Kommun) within Uppsala Province. Uppsala Province includes not only Uppsala city but also cities like Enköping, Östhammar, and Tierp.

UL means Uppsala Lokaltrafik (Uppsala Local Traffic). But UL’s service area includes not only Uppsala Province mentioned above, but also Arlanda Airport (which is in Stockholm Province), Gävle (the capital of Gävleborg Province), and Sala in Västmanland Province.

Key Point: UL’s service area is not exactly the same as Uppsala Province’s boundaries. (Figure 1)

Figure 1. a) UL’s official website description of UL transport zones, b) Uppsala Province in geographical terms, c) UL’s operating area

Public Transport Companies

The public transport companies we might use (not including taxis) are:

• UL: Uppsala Lokaltrafik - Uppsala local transport
• SL: Similar to UL, this is Stockholm local transport
• SJ: (Sverige Järnväg - Swedish Railways) operates railway transport across all of Sweden. But SJ is not the only company running trains.
• Mälartåg: Also a railway company.

There are also longer-distance options:

• Flixbus: A budget-friendly intercity bus company. Can be used as an alternative to get to airports, or as a money-saving option for overnight travel. For example, you can sleep on the bus (if you actually can sleep) from Stockholm to Copenhagen.
• Vy: A private railway and bus company with many routes in central and northern Sweden.
• Flygbussarna: Commonly called “rainbow bus,” mainly provides transport between airports.

You can explore these three on your own.

UL and Movingo Ticket Types

UL tickets can be bought through their app, but registering for UL requires an EU phone number. New students can buy tickets by card when boarding. UL’s ticketing system has different types:

• 75-minutersbiljett: 75-minute ticket, commonly called single ticket (Enkelbiljett). A single ticket doesn’t mean you can only ride once - it’s valid for 75 minutes. For example, if you need to transfer somewhere along the way, you don’t need to buy a new single ticket as long as your ticket is still within the 75-minute validity period.

• 75-minutersbiljett till/från Arlanda med buss: Single ticket to/from Arlanda Airport. If you want to take the bus 🚌 to Arlanda Airport, you need to buy this type of ticket. If you take rail 🛤️ transport, you also need to pay the Arlandapassageavgift tåg (Arlanda Airport passage fee), which is explained later.

• Periodbiljett: Period tickets, including 24-hour, 72-hour, 7-day, 30-day, and 90-day tickets. The 90-day ticket needs to be purchased through the UL App as shown in Figure 2. If you have a Periodbiljett and take the bus to Arlanda Airport, no extra fee is needed.

Figure 2. Buy 90 day tickets

Movingo

Movingo: A bundled ticket that combines transport tickets from different regions, covering the entire Mälardalen area. You can choose to buy only certain areas (like just SL and UL areas). With Movingo, you can use SJ, Mälartåg, and regional transport (like UL and SL). Good for people who need to commute between provinces. See Figure 3 for details.

Figure 3. Movingo Route Map

Getting Around Uppsala City

These areas are mainly connected by UL’s bus system. After 2024, UL removed the zone pricing system, so zones mentioned in older guides no longer apply.

Uppsala city’s bus system is very good - there’s basically a bus stop every 300-400 meters. Routes 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 12 cover most UU student apartments and UU campuses. Route 12 is basically Uppsala University’s school bus - it only runs on weekdays from about 6am to 8pm, going through many dorm areas and campuses.

Green buses, or buses with numbers under 100, only operate in Uppsala city. Yellow buses with three-digit numbers go to other areas but also stop at many city stops.

Getting to Areas Around Uppsala and Arlanda Airport

• To other cities in Uppsala Province: Just need a valid UL ticket.

• To Arlanda Airport: From Uppsala to Arlanda Airport with UL as valid ticket, you can choose bus 801, SL pendeltåg (commuter train, explained later), or Mälartåg. SJ and FlixBus are not discussed here.

  • If you want to use a single ticket and take the bus 801 to Arlanda: buy “75-minutersbiljett till/från Arlanda med buss”

  • If you want to use a single ticket and take rail transport (SL pendeltåg or Mälartåg) to Arlanda: buy “75-minutersbiljett till/från Arlanda med buss + Arlandapassageavgift tåg”. But the Arlandapassageavgift tåg is expensive, so don’t take rail transport unless you’re in a hurry.

  • If you have a Periodbiljett and take the bus to Arlanda: no extra ticket needed

  • If you have a Periodbiljett and take rail transport to Arlanda: you should buy an extra Arlandapassageavgift tåg

  • If you want to go from Uppsala to Arlanda between 01:45-02:34 or from Arlanda back to Uppsala between 02:32-03:26, you can use your UL ticket on SL bus 593.

• To Stockholm: For travel between these two cities, Waldo strongly recommends the route 40 commuter train jointly operated by SL and UL (yes, it’s a bus that runs on railway tracks, but not managed by SJ). For those who have UL Periodbiljett you just need to buy a SL single ticket (~40 SEK) instead of SJ ticket (~80 SEK).

Route 40 runs every 30 minutes like clockwork, from 4:30am to 1:30am the next day, rain or shine. The route 40 train starts from Uppsala Centralstation, stopping at important stations like Knivsta, Arlanda (airport - you can walk directly into the terminal when you get off), Upplands Väsby, Solna, Stockholm Odenplan, and Stockholm City, plus many small stations.

As this is a cross-regional train, you need both UL and SL tickets! If you have a UL ticket, you need to buy an SL ticket (single ticket is fine); if you have an SL ticket, you need to buy a UL ticket; if you have neither, you need both. Of course, if you happen to be wealthy, you can directly buy SJ or Mälartåg tickets.

Important ⚠️ Arlanda Airport station is the boundary between the two regions (sometimes route 40 doesn’t go through Arlanda but through Märsta - then the UL-SL boundary is Märsta). Between Uppsala and Arlanda, even if you take the jointly operated route 40, you only need a UL ticket. Conversely, if you start from Stockholm city and don’t go past Arlanda (like to Knivsta), you only need an SL ticket.

You only need UL+SL when crossing regions!!! This is because the two companies can’t check tickets outside their own areas. Here’s a tip: if you use the SL App to buy SL tickets, you can activate your ticket after passing Arlanda Airport! Since SL has no authority to check before that, this maximizes your single ticket time. Inactivated SL tickets can be saved in the app for one year.

For other uncommon special cases like taking buses to Stockholm, Norrtälje, etc., see: https://www.ul.se/reseinfo/resor-over-lansgrans/

Also note that having a UL ticket lets you take Mälartåg within UL’s area, but having an SL ticket does not let you take Mälartåg within SL’s area. So SL+UL combination tickets cannot ❌ be used for Stockholm-Uppsala commuting!

• To other provinces reachable by UL: If you want to go to neighboring provinces like Gävle, Strängnäs, or Västerås, whether you use Mälartåg or UL yellow buses, you only need a UL ticket. But if you want to travel within that province after arriving, you should buy local transport tickets.

About Student Discounts

Students can buy discounted tickets (Rabatterad), but you must make sure your student card (Mecenat or STUK) has the SL logo.

If it doesn’t, even if you’re definitely a student, you might get fined (though you can argue about it later). Also, Mecenat or STUK must be used with valid ID (passport or ID card - residence cards are essentially visas, not ID documents). Crazy ticket inspectors might not check, but you can’t not have them. So please manually update your student card each semester and always carry proper ID.

Warning ⚠️: Student tickets with SL logo can only guarantee use in SL and UL operating areas. Whether you qualify for student tickets in other cities needs to be checked yourself.

Case Studies

1. Day Trip to Gräsö Island

Little Dinosaur wants to enjoy the Swedish summer by going to Gräsö Island to feel the sea breeze and walk around, then return to the Flogsta.

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From Flogsta, take bus 5/6/804 to Centralstation (UL ticket), then take bus 811 to Öregrund town in Östhammar, take the ferry to Gräsö Island, then take bus 853 to explore. Same route back.

This entire trip only needs a UL ticket.

2. Going to Täby to Fix My Phone

“Hi Waldo, I want to go from my Flogsta dorm to the Apple Store in Täby to fix my phone, then visit KTH, then go to Stockholm city center for dinner, then return to Uppsala. Plan me a route.”

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From Flogsta, take bus 5/6/804 to Centralstation (UL ticket), then take the route 40 train to Upplands Väsby station (UL+SL single ticket - you’ve passed the airport and entered SL territory), exit and transfer to bus 684 to Täby C (the 75-minute SL single ticket is still valid).

After fixing the phone, take the 28 light rail to Stockholm östra (now you need a second SL single ticket), exit right to KTH, then return to the nearby subway entrance Techniska Högskolan, take red line 14 subway (second SL ticket still valid) to TC for dinner.

After eating, enter TC station, find the Pendeltåg (you need to go down 4 floors from ground level to reach the platform), take route 40 towards Uppsala back to Centralstation (UL + third SL single ticket - you’ve passed the airport and returned to UL territory), then take bus 5/6/804 back to Flogsta (UL ticket).

3. Know Your Airports - It Could Save Your Life

Little Dinosaur’s friend studying in London wants to visit Gotland Island in Sweden and wants to visit Uppsala during a Stockholm transfer. But this friend bought a cheap Ryanair flight that lands at Stockholm Västerås Airport (don’t laugh, this really exists), which isn’t actually in Stockholm. Even worse, the flight to Gotland leaves from Bromma Airport in Solna. So this friend wants Little Dinosaur to be a tour guide for the day.

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• Step 1 Use UL ticket to Västerås: From Flogsta, take UL bus 773 to Västerås Centralstation (use UL ticket, no need to buy VL ticket even though you’ve crossed provincial borders).

• Step 2 Use VL ticket to airport: Buy a local Västerås transport VL ticket from Västerås Centralstation to Västerås flygplats.

• Step 3 Use UL ticket to Uppsala: Return to Västerås Centralstation, use UL ticket back to Uppsala Centralstation.

• Step 4 Use UL+SL ticket to Solna: From Uppsala Centralstation take SL pendeltåg to Solna.

• Step 5 Use SL ticket from Solna to Stockholm Bromma Airport: After arriving in Solna, take tram 30 (Spårvagn), transfer to tram 31 at Norra Ulvsunda to reach Bromma Airport.

PS: There are other methods if you don’t go through Uppsala city - this extreme example is just for explaining purposes.

PPS: There are actually four airports using Stockholm’s name: Arlanda in Sigtuna (ARN), Bromma in Solna (BMA), Skavsta in Nyköping (NYO), and Västerås (VST). Always check carefully when buying tickets!

4. Living in Flogsta but Want to Go to Göteborg

Little Dinosaur living in Flogsta needs to go to Göteborg on business. To take a train from Uppsala to Göteborg directly, you’d have to go from Flogsta to Uppsala Central Station, then to Stockholm, then to Göteborg. Is there a more convenient way?

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• Step 1 Use UL ticket to Enköping: Take UL bus 804 directly from Flogsta to Enköping.

• Step 2 Buy SJ Regional train ticket directly from Enköping to Göteborg.