SWEDEN: Trafikverket, the Swedish transport administration, has signed a six-month contract with state-owned operator SJ for the Stockholm–Östersund–Duved night train from December, with three extension options only the state can trigger. The compensation is just under SEK 30m, roughly EUR 2.7m.
The agreement runs from 13 December 2026 to 13 June 2027 and requires one night train in each direction every day, the same pattern as today. SJ has operated the route year-round on Trafikverket’s behalf since summer 2018. Lennart Kalander, head of the responsible department at Trafikverket, said the contract secures the service until summer as a first step.
Any extension depends on the funding the administration is allocated in the coming years, he said. SJ said the agreement is adapted to the pace at which Trafikverket receives its funding. The contract is separate from Trafikverket’s other state-procured night train, Stockholm–Luleå–Narvik, which was awarded to SJ in June for two years.
The three options
The first option runs two and a half years, from 14 June 2027 to 9 December 2029. The second adds a year to 15 December 2030, the third another year to 14 December 2031. Together they could keep the train running for five years.
None of the options can be exercised by SJ. Trafikverket has to decide before the end of 2026 whether to trigger the first, once it knows its allocation for 2027, Kalander told Järnvägar.nu.
The price for the six months is somewhat higher than the corresponding period under the expiring agreement, he said. Jan Kyrk, commercial manager at SJ, put the level at roughly what the company received in the contract periods between 2018 and 2024.
Two routes, two contracts
The Duved train serves Jämtland with a single daily pair. Trafikverket contracts it directly with SJ, and the new agreement replaces one that expires in December.
The Övre Norrland route to Luleå and Narvik is the one Trafikverket put out to tender. That tender was cancelled in March when the administration found the bids too high, after which it awarded SJ the contract directly for December 2026 to December 2028.
Övre Norrland is also the route for which Trafikverket has ordered a new fleet from Talgo. The Duved route has no fleet order attached and will run on SJ’s existing couchette and sleeping cars throughout the new agreement.
Profit clause and rolling stock
The contract caps what SJ can earn on the service. If the operator’s profit exceeds an agreed level, part of the compensation is repaid to Trafikverket, Kyrk told the publication.
SJ is refurbishing 11 couchette cars and 46 sleeping cars for the Duved and Stockholm–Malmö routes, he said. The first refurbished cars entered service in December 2025, and the programme runs to 2030.
The first option expires in December 2029, a year before the refurbishment programme is due to finish.