SWEDEN: National passenger operator SJ has selected CAF as preferred bidder for a SKr3bn contract to supply 25 trainsets for use on inter-regional services, mainly in the Stockholm-Mälaren region.
The Civity Nordic electric multiple-units will have a maximum speed of 200 km/h, with winterisation for Swedish conditions, easy boarding, space for bicycles, prams and luggage and facilities for passengers to work while onboard. The order forms part of SJ’s SKr12bn investment in new and refurbished rolling stock.
The trains are expected to enter service from 2025 on the Stockholm – Västerås – Örebro – Skövde – Göteborg, Stockholm – Uppsala, Linköping – Norrköping – Stockholm – Arlanda – Uppsala – Gävle – Ljusdal and Kalmar – Göteborg routes.
Announcing the selection of CAF on October 25, SJ said rail travel had more than doubled in the last 20 years. While the pandemic has reduced demand, it expects this to be temporary and the new trains are intended to meet predicted future demand.
‘We buy trains to meet an increasing demand, not least in the Stockholm-Mälaren region’, explained SJ’s business manager Jan Kyrk. ‘Despite the fact that the trains will have plenty of seats, we have still set the bar high in terms of comfort. The trains will work both for those who travel for 1 h to 2 h but also for those who travel longer.
‘A more flexible way of working means that many can imagine commuting a little longer than before, where you are at work one to three days a week and at the same time take advantage of the train’s great advantage, the possibility to use travel time for work, recreation or rest’.
The order is the second for Civity Nordic trainsets to be announced this year; in April CAF finalised a SKr250m deal with leasing company AB Transitio to supply 20 electric and eight bimodes units under a framework contract awarded in 2014.
