Alstom has just confirmed the decision by Swedish national railway company SJ to buy new high-speed trains. These trains will be Sweden's fastest, with a top speed of 250 kilometres per hour.
They will be used for long-distance rail services between Sweden's major cities. But also for cross-border services to Denmark and Norway.
25 Alstom trains at 250 km/h
Alstom to supply 25 Zefiro Express high-speed electric trainswith an option for 15 additional trains. The contract for the first firm order is worth almost 650 million euros. This is a historic amount for Swedish railways. The first train should be delivered in 2026.
" Alstom is extremely proud to be supplying these new high-speed trains to SJ. This is an historic agreement that will revolutionise the way passengers travel across the country. In the face of concerns about climate change, high-speed rail is emerging as the main alternative to air travel. It is comfortable, practical and now extremely fast. "said Rob Whyte, Managing Director of Alstom for the Nordic countries.
Future trains will cut journey times by 15 to 20 minutes on the Stockholm-Göteborg and Stockholm-Malmö-Copenhagen routes. This means a journey time of 2 hours 45 minutes for the first route and just over four hours for the Stockholm-Malmö section.
Over the last 20 years, rail travel in Sweden has more than doubledand 2019 has been a record year for rail travel in the country. The pandemic has reduced the number of journeys, but SJ considers this to be a temporary drop in demand.
According to SJ, offering more and more people the option of choosing the train rather than flying or driving is an important prerequisite for Sweden to meet its climate targets.
Trains designed for extreme outside temperatures
Zefiro Express trains are designed to operate in extreme climatic conditions, even at -40 °C.
Each Zefiro Express will have a total capacity of 363 seatsoffering passengers an exceptional on-board experience. The trains have been ergonomically designed for maximum comfort and feature top-of-the-range seating and lighting. The trains will have space for bicycles, large luggage lockers, an SJ bar and lounge areas.
The width of the carriages, the electrical systems and the signalling systems have been designed to take account of the fact that the trains will be running in Sweden and Denmark. They will also be able to run in Norway.
New night train between Hamburg and Stockholm
What's more, SJ has just announced the launch of a new night service. From 1 September, trains will be running daily between Hamburg and Stockholm.
Departure from Stockholm is at 17:34. The train will stop in the south of Sweden, notably in Malmö. It will then continue on to Copenhagen and Odense before reaching Hamburg-Altona at around 06:30. The arrival time has been chosen to create favourable connections for those connecting to the rest of Europe. The night train will leave Hamburg-Altona at 21:55 and arrive in Stockholm at 09:55.
The night train will have 2 classes of seats, 2 classes of berths for 4 to 6 people, 2 classes of sleeping cars for 1 or 2 people and 1 class of sleeping cars for 1 to 3 people.. Tickets for the new night train service have been on sale since 27 April via SJ.
