Spanish Talgo wins Swedish night train rolling stock order
SWEDEN: Trafikverket has selected Talgo to supply new night train rolling stock for northern Sweden in a EUR 485m contract, with delivery from 2030.
The contract covers 10 Siemens Vectron locomotives and 91 Talgo coaches, replacing a fleet up to 40 years old. The new vehicles are rated for operation at minus 40 degrees Celsius.
The new coaches will offer four-berth, two-berth premium and single-berth compartments, replacing a mixed fleet that includes WL4 and WL6 sleeping cars from the 1990s and older couchette coaches — some of which were originally designed to transport military conscripts.
Trafikverket owns the coaches and leases them to whichever operator holds the service contract — currently SJ under a direct award since December 2024. SJ supplies its own locomotives under the current arrangement.
New operating model shifts fleet to state ownership
The rolling stock contract is separate from the operating tender for the Stockholm–Narvik and Stockholm–Umeå corridors, which Trafikverket cancelled in March after bids exceeded its financial framework.
From 2030, Trafikverket will own both locomotives and coaches outright. The operator’s job will be to run the trains — not to supply them.
A new operating agreement must be in place before the current SJ contract expires in December 2026, bridging the gap until the new fleet enters service in 2030.
The contract award follows a second procurement attempt. Trafikverket cancelled an earlier rolling stock tender in August 2025 after none of the bids received met its requirements.
The award decision remains open to appeal for a further ten days.