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Issue 5 2010 / 20 September 2010 /
It is difficult to pinpoint the event that was the most important in SJ’s 150-year history. Was it when the government took over all of the country’s private railways in 1939? Was it when the infrastructure maintenance division was spun off in 1988? Was it the introduction of the X2000 trains in the early 1990s or the start of online ticket sales in 1997? No one can really determine which event or which decade affected SJ most, but even the most recent one has been tumultuous for SJ. (more…)
Issue 5 2009, Past issues / 26 September 2009 /
SJ has been on quite a journey following its conversion to a limited-liability company. In 2002, SJ was an inefficient company on the verge of bankruptcy. Since then, the company has undergone tremendous change and is now market-focused. SJ has identified various customer groups and their needs and then developed products and services that satisfy as many travellers as possible. The company has created a flexible pricing model that enhances its profitability, despite a significant reduction in the lowest prices. Unnecessary costs have been eliminated, and the fleet is used more efficiently. SJ has reversed the trend and is now one of Europe’s most profitable rail companies, with all-time high profitability of a 13.9% return on equity achieved in 2008.
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Issue 5 2009, Past issues / 26 September 2009 /
Growth of population, urbanisation, trade and economics as well as the environmental and climatic challenges calls for sustainable and efficient transportation solutions. Development of the railway is essential to meet these demands. We have to improve efficiency, quality and maintenance of existing systems as well as invest in new infrastructure, rolling stock and improved services.
The rail freight market in Sweden was opened for competition in 1996. In June 2009, the Swedish parliament approved a government bill proposing that the passenger market should also be opened up for competition. The market opening will be realised through a stepwise process. The first step was implemented in July 2009 when the market for weekend traffic was opened for competition. The second step will be to open up the market for international rail passenger traffic in October 2009. The timing makes it possible, at least in theory, for new operators to enter into competition for the great passenger demand around Christmas and the turn of the year. The third step will occur in October 2010. This is when the main part of the passenger rail market (domestic traffic Monday through to Friday) will be opened up for competition. (more…)
Issue 5 2007, Past issues / 26 September 2007 /
From the threat of bankruptcy to the position of a profitable travel company in just a few years, SJ is now crowning themselves as the most efficient and profitable train company in Europe. But with Sweden’s old rail infrastructure still in use means that SJ is struggling to keep up with the European standard of high-speed trains. Nevertheless, the increase of passenger numbers shows that the Swedish people have made a conscious choice for the environment. In an interview for the European Railway Review Claes Broström, Vice President of Fleet Management at SJ explains past, present and future investments.
Only a few years ago, SJ was in a deep financial crisis. Since then, the government owned passenger train operator, a former Government enterprise agency, has managed to turn around the results with the aid of hard cutbacks and a comprehensive change in its programme. Today, an average of 100,000 journeys are made with SJ every day from 200 locations nationwide, and SJ has 90% of the market for train journeys exceeding 100 kilometres. (more…)
Issue 5 2006, Past issues / 15 September 2006 /
Sweden’s state railway has won market share from airlines and buses. But it is not resting on its laurels, SJ Chief Executive Jan Forsberg told European Railway Review in an interview.
Running passenger railways in Sweden is not an easy business. With a population of just nine million and some very difficult topography, parts of this country are far from ideal for railways. Aircraft can fly over the difficult terrain, and there is stiff competition from luxury express coaches and cars on the roads. And yet SJ (Swedish State Railways) has managed to win business from these rival modes in recent years. Traffic volumes in the inter-city rail sector were up 12% in the first six months of 2006, an impressive turnaround considering that four years ago SJ was close to bankruptcy.
How has this trick been pulled off? ‘We have refurbished our inter-city trains and improved the services on board; we have enhanced the marketing of the services and improved the punctuality’ explains Jan Forsberg, SJ’s Chief Executive.
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Issue 1 2006, Past issues / 14 February 2006 /
The X 2000 is one of SJ’s leading trains. Compared with other means of transportation it offers its passengers the possibility to use their travel time to work or be entertained. To extend this advantage, SJ have started to develop a system for seamless communication. It has two purposes: the possibility to use cell phones and to surf the Internet.
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Issue 3 2005, Past issues / 23 August 2005 /
An ambitious program of improved services is underway for Swedish State Railways as it squares up to face fierce competition from land, sea and air, including other rail operators in the regional market.
Sweden was the pioneer of the vertically-separated railway model that is now found throughout Europe. Banverket, the track authority, was split off from SJ, the railway operating company, in 1988. The idea was that Banverket would be like the roads authority, with operators paying for licences to run over the railways.
A crucial difference to the later British model was that, unlike Railtrack, Banverket was not expected to earn all its money from operators paying to use its tracks; it would instead be like the roads authority in that the state would pay to have an adequate rail network.
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