The Malmö–Cologne–Brussels route could become the first route for procured night train service to Europe, according to the Swedish Transport Administration.
Minister of Infrastructure Tomas Eneroth (S) is focused on making it a reality in a few years.
”"I want to go further and ensure that the Swedish Transport Administration is given the task of being able to procure night train services. We need more night train services and trains in general out in Europe, not least in a situation where we may have concerns about maintaining air traffic," Tomas Eneroth tells TT.
He emphasizes that it is not the time for unnecessary travel to Europe today. But there will come a time when things will have to be restarted.
”"What we are working towards is a green restart that facilitates climate-smart travel," says Eneroth.
Last summer, the Swedish Transport Administration was commissioned by the government to investigate the possibilities of purchasing night trains to Europe from Sweden. In the final report, the agency assesses that the Malmö–Cologne–Brussels route could be a suitable route to start with.
But there are some obstacles on the way that must be removed if it is to become more than a proposal. The Swedish Transport Administration notes that Germany is currently not willing to allow the type of traffic that the agency has investigated. For it to be feasible, Sweden and Germany must reach an agreement, as well as with other affected countries. If things go well, traffic could begin in 2022 or 2023 at the earliest.
Initially, according to the Swedish Transport Administration's calculations, it would probably be a loss-making business of around 50 million per year.
”"I think it will be expensive, a cost, initially to establish new traffic and night train traffic, but that in the long term there may be more players opening night train lines. The idea is not that the state will permanently have procured traffic," says Eneroth.
”"It should be a way to change travel patterns and get commercial operators to run night trains. We have that today with Snälltåget, which runs commercially to Berlin," he adds.
Source: TT
