On Swedish Trains, Travel Time Counts As Work Time

Original article by BJÖRN SUNESON; Translated by Carl Morgan.

English Translation:

The work day begins when you get on the train. SJ (Swedish Railways) will now convince the country's employers that travel time equals work time in order to draw riders to trains.

SJ is now showing consistent profits, not just an occasional anomaly here and there. This made SJ Director Jan Forsberg and Board of Directors Chair Ulf Adelsohn quite satisfied as they presented the organization's third quarter results.

Things are going better now, not because revenues and travel continue to increase, but due to decreasing costs and limiting departures. This makes Jan Forsberg convinced that 2004 will also be a profitable year after three years of loss in a row.

...

This spring SJ will begin service of their new double-decker trains on the Mälardals train lines. These will begin with service on the Arboga-Eskilstuna-Stockholm line and will be fully in place before year’s end. Inside, SJ is also counting on the rebuilt and renovated X2000 trains and on self-serve food service to attract ridership. In February of next year, the new trains will roll toward Gothenburg. In addition, SJ will actively campaign to convince business clients that travel time means work time. The newly designed trains will make it easier to work onboard with computers and mobile phones.

"Everybody wins with the coming of these new trains," explained Forsberg who was fired up by Adelsohn who believes that if only people discover how great the trains are, they will be hooked.

Lower prices in the works to attract riders?

"We are going to make some adjustments, but no big changes. Half of our tickets today are discounted. Those who claim that it has gotten more expensive to travel by train are wrong—we have had the same price on the X2000 since 1990," claimed Jan Forsberg.