SWEDEN: National transport agency Trafikverket has directly awarded state operator SJ a contract to operate Stockholm – Narvik overnight trains for one year from December 15 2024, with an option for a further year.
SJ operated the services until December 2020, when the Vy Tåg subsidiary of Norway’s national operator took over under a four-year contract.
Vy Tåg said it had hoped to continue running the service ‘under better financial conditions’. However, an agreement was not reached and Trafikverket has appointed SJ to provide continuity while a new procurement is undertaken.
‘It is important to have a functioning interregional public transport and accessibility throughout the country, even when the commercial conditions are lacking, and it is therefore positive that SJ has taken on the task’, said Trafikverket’s head of planning Lennart Kalander on July 10.
Vy Tåg CEO Dag Lokrantz-Bernitz said ’we do not say goodbye. We say see you later.’
He added that Vy Tåg had upgraded the service with hotel-standard comfort and locally sourced food and drink. ‘The punctuality we have been able to influence has been 98%, which makes me extremely proud’, he said. ’However, our guests have suffered from disruptions beyond our control, such as extreme weather and infrastructure problems.’
Looking ahead, Vy Tåg is ’here to stay and grow in the Swedish market’, he predicted.
