SWEDEN: Local authority Region Stockholm has signed a temporary agreement for the Connecting Stockholm joint venture of The Go-Ahead Group (55%) and ComfortDelGro (45%) to operate and maintain the capital’s metro for two years from November 2 2025, with the possibility of an extension.
In January 2024 Region Stockholm selected Connecting Stockholm as preferred bidder for a contract that was expected to run for 11 years from May 2 2025
However, rival bidder Keolis Alstom lodged an objection with the administrative court calling for a review. This was rejected on September 18, but Keolis Alstom appealed and on September 30 the court of appeal decided that the contact cannot be signed pending a possible alternative ruling.
The current operating contract with MTR Tunnelbanan is due to expire on November 1 2025 and cannot be extended further. In order to avoid the risk of disruption to services, the regional authority signed the temporary agreement with its previously-announced preferred bidder on October 23.
‘If the metro does not run, there will be chaos in public transport in Stockholm’, said David Lagneholm, CEO of transport authority SL. ‘Since we do not know how long the review process may last, we need to sign a temporary agreement. This is so that a new operator will have time to make preparations to take over in November 2025.’
The temporary agreement has similar content and financial conditions to the planned contract, but is shorter.
Connecting Stockholm will be responsible for customer service, planning and delivery of services, fleet and station maintenance and depot facilities on the 106 km Tunnelbana network, which has three lines operated as seven routes and carries 350 million passengers/year.
‘We look forward to welcoming Connecting Stockholm, and at the same time we want to thank MTR for running the subway in Stockholm with extremely high punctuality and quality since 2009 and now handing over a well-functioning operation to the new operator’, said Lagneholm.
