SJ and its subsidiary SJ Norge have been awarded a contract to operate train services on seven Norwegian train routes. The decision was hammered out by the Norwegian Railway Directorate on Monday, SJ writes in a press release.

The state-owned Swedish company will therefore operate train traffic for just over ten years within the framework of what is called Traffic Package 2 in Norway. This includes traffic on the Dovre Line, the Røros Line, the Rauma Line, the Nordlands Line, the Trønder Line, the Meråker Line and the Saltenpendelen.

SJ already operates certain routes in Norway on the Stockholm–Oslo, Gothenburg-Halden and Stockholm–Narvik lines.

The agreement on train traffic in Traffic Package 2 is valid from the summer of 2020 and for eight years, with an option for a two-year extension, according to SJ.

At the end of the bidding process, SJ Norge was defeated by Norwegian competitor Vy, which currently operates traffic on the lines.

A number of famous Several players had been eliminated, including Hong Kong-based MTR, German Arriva, French Keolis and British Go-Ahead. Swedish Nobina also bid in the tender.

Price became a decisive factor in the bidding war.

”"The average annual fee SJ Norway will have to operate the traffic included in this traffic package is in the order of one fifth of what the traffic is operated for today," the Swedish Railways Directorate writes in a comment according to the news agency NTB.

Source: TT