SJ remains with the same number of bookable tickets as last summer.
But the reduced traffic combined with a significant decrease in business travel is worrying.
”"The economic conditions for operating train services as they are now are not sustainable," says Stephan Ray, press communicator.
SJ is going through a tough period with a sharp decline in the number of passengers. In the second quarter, travel decreased by 77 percent compared to the previous year. Ahead of the third quarter, which will be presented in two weeks, SJ still fears large losses.
”"The economic conditions for operating train services as they are now are not sustainable. We have negative cash flow, it is a matter of survival for the company," says Stephan Ray, press communicator for SJ.
SJ is continuing with the same reduced traffic as last summer. This means that 65 percent of the seats on the express trains are bookable. When booking, there is a seat map where you can see which seats are blocked. If you are traveling alone, you can choose to sit next to a blocked seat.
During the summer, SJ went up to 75 percent of bookable seats for a period but had to back off when the congestion was perceived to be too great.
During the fall, holiday travelers are usually replaced by business travelers. But that group has largely disappeared, which is worrying.
”"Bookings have been down, business travel hasn't picked up at all. So we're way behind if we compare to the same period last year or a normal year. It's a brutal difference," says Stephan Ray.
However, travel has increased on weekends, which has led SJ to reinforce the Stockholm-Malmö and Stockholm-Gothenburg routes – and also certain routes north.
”"On the most popular routes, we try to add more departures and extend trains where possible."”
How do you experience traveling on regional trains where it is not possible to reserve a seat?
”"We see that travelers seem to choose departures where there are not so many people, they spread out. Even though commuters are people of habit, they take the same train every day, they have begun to realize that they cannot travel on the same departure. We can only extend the trains to a certain limit, so this is a shared responsibility."”
Source: di.se
