Now the night trains between Stockholm and Berlin are over, as the government wants to cut funding for the initiative. A big loss for sustainable travel within the EU, says MP Linus Lakso (MP). "It is an incredibly important route for anyone who wants to get to Europe in a sustainable and smooth way," he tells Dagens industri.
The premiere of SJ's night train between Stockholm and Hamburg took place on September 1, 2022. A year later, the line was extended to Berlin. In the more than three years that the service has been running, passengers have flocked to it, especially during the summer months.
But the popular night trains could be over as early as next year. This is after the Government, in its budget bill, proposes to end support for the current route when the four-year contract period expires on July 31, 2026. This means that the support of SEK 95 million per year will end.
”"The agreement with the Swedish Transport Administration is valid until July next year. We will run for another month, but then it's over," says Christer Litzell, business manager at SJ, to the industry magazine Järnvägar.nu.
The proposal not to renew the support has angered Member of Parliament Linus Lakso (MP). He also points to new legislation hammered out by the EU Parliament last year, in which member states commit to simplifying rail transport between countries.
”"It is incredibly destructive to pull the rug out from under the initiative, and it also goes against what the EU wants. It takes an incredibly long time to change a travel pattern, but now they have finally managed to get this started and there is a lot of demand," he tells Di.
Minister of Infrastructure Andreas Carlson (KD) tells Dagens Industri that the decision to end the night trains lies with SJ.
”"Ending night train services is SJ's own decision. The government has completed the time-bound plan for the procurement of night trains to Europe that was decided by the previous government."”
According to Carlson, neither train travel to Europe is based on the fact that there are night trains running.
”"It will still be possible to travel by train within Europe. When the new fixed link across the Fehmarn Belt opens, travel times will be shortened further. More departures by high-speed train is a more flexible traffic arrangement with more travel options than one night train per day," he says and continues:
”At the same time, the procured traffic should not crowd out the market.”
The fast train, which also operates the Stockholm-Hamburg/Berlin route, has reduced its departures due to competition from SJ's Euronight trains. However, with SJ's decision, the company will step up its efforts.
”"But if SJ doesn't run, we will run more, we already have an application in place to also operate in November-December next year," says Snälltåget's commercial manager Marco Andersson to DN.
Earlier this week, the government tasked the Swedish Transport Administration with reviewing the state's commitment to night trains in terms of, for example, needs and financing.
”We need a robust night train service that can handle more stress and is more efficient and sustainable in the long term,” says Carlson.
NIGHT TRAINS AND TRAFFIC AGREEMENTS
SJ's night trains are currently available on the Stockholm-Narvik, Stockholm-Duved and Stockholm-Hamburg/Berlin routes, as well as on the Stockholm-Malmö route – but there without support from the state. The state-supported night train between Gothenburg and Umeå ended last year and since this spring there has also been no night train between Gothenburg and Duved. The allocated procurement of traffic in the budget for 2026 is a total of 1.055 billion kronor, which is 31 million lower than in the budget for the current year. When it comes to the current Stockholm-Berlin route, the allocation for next year is 65 million kronor (which refers to allocations up to 31 July). In previous years, 95 million lats have been allocated for the route.
Source: DI.SE
