The future for rail in Sweden should – and could – be bright
Issue 5 2009, Past issues / 26 September 2009 / Gunnar Alexandersson, Senior Policy Adviser, ASTOC
The Association of Swedish Train Operating Companies (ASTOC) acts on behalf of Sweden’s train operators. It seeks to represent the interests of commercial rail traffic in its dealing with the Government and Parliament, authorities, business principals, the media and other bodies. ASTOC also assists in increasing the rail industry’s know-how and competitiveness by providing information, advice and services to members. The CEO, Mr. Peder Wadman, runs the daily operations together with a handful of employees working at the association’s office in central Stockholm, including the regular input of staff resources from several member companies.
The Association can trace its roots all the way back to 1876 and the early days of rail services in Sweden, when privately owned railways had an important role. After nationalisation, the Association was mainly dormant for several decades. However, following the many reforms in the sector since the 1980s, with the vertical separation of track infrastructure from operations and the step-wise market opening process leading to a number of new entrants, the Association was reborn by the end of the 1990s. Today, ASTOC has 23 train operating member companies (see Figure 2), covering both the passenger and freight side of the industry and a wide spectrum of ownership structures: private, public (state or regional authorities), semi-private, and companies of both Swedish and foreign origin. In addition, the vehicle maintenance firm EuroMaint recently became an associated member of ASTOC. (more…)
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