SWEDEN: SJ has signed a €650m contract for Alstom to supply 25 Zefiro Express 250 km/h trainsets, which the national passenger operator says will complement its refurbished X2000 fleet as ‘the best travel product in Sweden and Scandinavia’, meeting the demand for ‘climate-smart, comfortable and efficient’ travel.
The new trains are to be deployed on long-distance inter-city routes and cross-border services to Denmark and Norway. They will be Sweden’s fastest trains, raising the country’s maximum speed from 200 to 250 km/h. The first train is scheduled to enter service in 2026, and there is an option for SJ to order up to 15 more.
‘This is a fantastic investment that we are making and will be further proof that SJ is the means of travel of the future’, said Head of Rolling Stock Arvid Fredman when the contract was signed on April 5. ‘Our customers will appreciate our new trains, with high speed, good comfort and opportunities to work and relax during the trip.’
Designed for Sweden
The Zefiro Express trains will be designed to operate in harsh weather conditions, at temperatures down to -40°C, and will be equipped with back-up batteries to keep them moving if the power supply fails.
They will have 363 seats, space for bicycles and luggage, sound deadening measures and a bistro offering hot food.
Negotiated procurement
The order is the result of SJ’s Project Delta procurement programme launched in 2017, which involved negotiations with potential suppliers rather than an open tender. Bombardier Transportation was determined to be the only supplier which could meet SJ’s requirements, before it was acquired by Alstom in January 2021. The group was confirmed as winner of the contract on December 20 last year.
‘This is a historic agreement that will change the way passengers travel across the country’, said Rob Whyte, Managing Director of Alstom Nordics, after the contract was signed. ‘With concerns about climate change, high speed rail is the primary alternative to air travel. It’s comfortable, convenient and now very fast.’
