Kymlinge Metro Station

Most urban legends are based solely on the fevered imaginations of the nervous and superstitious. But the Kymlinge Metro Station, a supposed ghost station, and Silverpilen, the silvery train that is said to haunt its rails, are both quite real.

In an effort to urbanize the area of Kymlinge, near Stockholm, construction began on a partly above-ground metro station. Yet due to the already extreme suburbanization of other areas of Stockholm and efforts to maintain the natural areas of Kymlinge, construction was stopped after the majority of the structure was created. Plans for the station were scrapped, but the structure was left in place should feelings ever change. It wasn’t long after it was abandoned that the ghost stories started popping up. 

There are a number of tales about the Kymlinge Station, but the most prominent of them involves another urban legend that was also very real. Kymlinge Station is said to be home to Silverpilen (The Silver Arrow), a silvery ghost train that is said to have been seen all around the Stockholm Metro. Because it was. Silverpilen was a standard subway train car that, unlike the rest of the Metro fleet, had never been painted green, retaining its silver aluminium shine. It was used as a back-up car when the system was overloaded or a car had to go out of commission, so people could go years without seeing it, making it seem pretty damn spooky when they finally did.

The basic beats of the ghost story usually go something like this: a young woman, after a late night of partying, gets on an old, silver-white train and sees that the other passengers look a little funny. When the train doesn’t stop at any of the regular stations she panics, but the other passengers don’t react. The train eventually stops at Kymlinge, and the passengers move right through the stations locked doors and disappear. Depending on what version of the story you hear the girl is either found dead or insane in the surrounding woods of Ursvik.

As it’s been said, “Only the dead get off at Kymlinge.”

You don’t really have to be dead to visit the Kymlinge Station. In fact, the station isn’t even abandoned, just indefinitely delayed. If you’re observant you can see the station while you travel to Akalla. Just look out the window after the train leaves Hallonbergen. You can also walk to it from nearby Hallonbergen or Kista. The station is usually locked, but can be seen from the outside.