Västtrafik Schedules 2026

Västtrafik is the public transport authority for Västra Götaland, the region around Gothenburg on Sweden's west coast. Best known for the city's trams, buses and regional trains, it also runs the passenger boats that are the lifeline of the Gothenburg archipelago — and they carry a normal Västtrafik ticket, the same one you would use on a tram.

Boats to the car-free islands

From Saltholmen, at the end of the tram line, ferries fan out across the Southern Gothenburg archipelago to a chain of car-free islands — Köpstadsö, Styrsö, Donsö and Vrångö, Brännö and Asperö and their neighbours — where the boat is simply how you get home. In the city itself, the little Älvsnabben boats hop across the Göta River between the quays, a scenic short-cut through the heart of Gothenburg.

One ticket for everything

There is nothing special to book: the archipelago and river boats are fully part of the integrated network, so a single ticket or period pass bought in the Västtrafik To Go app covers boat, tram, bus and train alike, priced by zone. The boats themselves are operated on Västtrafik's behalf by Styrsöbolaget. Västtrafik was formed in 1998 alongside the Västra Götaland region.

What is not Västtrafik

Two crossings in the Öckerö islands that look like part of this network are not: Hönöleden between Lilla Varholmen and Hönö/Öckerö, and Nordöleden linking Burö, Knippla, Hyppeln and Rörö. Both are Färjerederiet state road ferries — part of the national road network, free to cross, and no ticket is required or checked. Västtrafik's own boats in the same waters, calling at piers like Kalvsund and Grötö, do carry the ordinary zoned ticket.

The numbers behind the Älvsnabben boats

Stenpiren to Lindholmspiren carries 211 departures and takes six minutes, running 05:44 to 23:04; the return carries 186. That is a river crossing operating at tram frequency in the middle of a city.

The island services are a different animal. Lilla Varholmen to Hönö Pinan runs 13 minutes with over 100 departures each way and, unlike the city boats, operates through the night — from 00:10 to 23:55. In the southern archipelago, Donsö to Styrsö takes two to three minutes with 99 departures. Frequency here is not a convenience; it is what makes living on the islands possible.