Rail transport in Sweden
| Sweden | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operation | |||||
| National railway | SJ | ||||
| Infrastructure company | Swedish Transport Administration | ||||
| Major operators | SJ, Tågkompaniet, Snälltåget, Pågatågen | ||||
| System length | |||||
| Total | 12,821 kilometres (7,967 mi) | ||||
| Double track | 1,152 kilometres (716 mi) | ||||
| Electrified | 7,918 kilometres (4,920 mi) | ||||
| Track gauge | |||||
| Main | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) | ||||
| 891 mm (2 ft 11 3⁄32 in) | 221 kilometres (137 mi) | ||||
| Electrification | |||||
| Main | 15 kV 16 2⁄3 Hz AC | ||||
| Features | |||||
| Longest tunnel | Hallandsåstunneln (8.7 km) | ||||
| Longest bridge | Öresundsbron (7.8 km) | ||||
| Highest elevation | 592 m a.s.l. | ||||
| Lowest elevation | 17 m b.s.l. | ||||
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| Map | |
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Rail transport in Sweden uses a network of 13,000 km of track, the 21st largest in the world. Construction of the first railway line in Sweden began in 1855. The major operator of passenger trains is the state-owned SJ AB.
In 1988, prompted by SJ's large deficits, the Swedish parliament privatised the network by ordering that the ownership of rail infrastructure ownership be separated from the ownership of train operations, and opened up the system to private sector train operators by introducing competitive tendering for local rail service contracts.
Sweden is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Sweden is 74.
Major national passenger train operators SJ AB (usually just called SJ), and the cargo transport operator, Green Cargo, are both fully owned by the state. A private company Tågkompaniet operates in central Sweden, and there are a number of regional companies. Tram systems are used in Gothenburg, Norrköping and . There is a metro system in Stockholm, the .
While most current railway lines of Sweden were decided and built by the state, and receive their technical upkeep from the public as well, SJ no longer holds a monopoly on operating and owning passenger trains where such can be run profitably on a commercial basis. Large parts of the rail network serve parts of the country which don't generate enough passenger or cargo traffic to make a profit, and on some of these stretches SJ has held a de facto monopoly until very recently (2010, see below in this section) Average speed is an important factor regarding profitability (more distance per hour means more income per hour).
For regional trains (within a county or up to about 100 km distance) the counties will buy traffic, signing a contract with an operator. The operator is often SJ, but sometimes another operator, either Swedish or from one of the other EU countries, provides the service. For these regional trains the county transport authority sells tickets. For long-distance trains (i.e. longer than the regional trains) that are not profitable, a national authority "Rikstrafiken" signs a contract with an operator to move traffic on each line (Public Service Obligation). In this case each operator markets and sell tickets. The operator for unprofitable services usually rents trains from the county transport authority or a special state organisation. This is because trains are expensive, take from two to three years to buy (from tender to delivery), and are hard to sell if the operator loses the contract. However, for the SJ monopoly traffic, SJ usually own the trains.
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Wikipedia