History & architecture

In 2009, Cityterminalen will celebrate its 20th anniversary. The building, which was inaugurated in 1989, has since been an important hub for ground transportation in Sweden.

Cityterminalen was inaugurated on January 20, in 1989 after four years of construction. Cityterminalen is part of the World Trade Center which was designed by the architect Ralph Erskine.

Initially, the bus traffic was dominated by the SJ bus traffic as well as the Stockholm Public Transport (SL), which then owned and operated the airport coaches to and from Arlanda och Bromma.

Cityterminalen looked rather much the same up until 2008. In 2007 and during most of 2008, the building underwent considerable reconstruction. The numbering of the gates was changed and the shop area was enlarged. At the same time, Cityterminal received a new graphic profile as well as a new logo.

Cityterminalen was classified as a ”green” building by the City Museum (Stadsmuseet), in 2008. This means the building is particularly valuable from a historical, cultural, environmental or artistic perspective.

”Green” classification

The Stadsmuseet jury's motivation for classifying Cityterminalen as ”green”:


”Cityterminalen, along with World Trade Center was the largest construction project in the city in the 1980's and one of the few Swedish constructions from that decade to attract international attention.”


”The building is interesting from both the sociohistorical perspective as well as a significant piece of architectural and infrastructural history.”


”For travelers arriving by bus or by air, the well-preserved building serves as an important symbol for the capital. Cityterminalen is their first encounter with the city.”