The deficiencies on board apply to both the Swedish SJ and the Norwegian-owned Vy, which since December 2020 both run the routes Gothenburg–Åre and Stockholm–Narvik.
DN has met several travelers who often travel with the trains and all testify to similar experiences. Unclean bedding, dirty toilets and dusty ventilation are just a few examples.
“The fact that the toilets work is more the exception than the rule,” says Gunita Cruse Ståleby, a passenger on the night trains to Jämtland to the newspaper.
During the current contracted period from December 2020 until today, the companies have been fined three million kroner by the Swedish Transport Administration. However, no fines for poor cleaning have been issued. The last time the Swedish Transport Administration carried out an inspection of the cleaning of the trains was in 2010.
According to the Swedish Transport Administration, the fine is nothing that stands out and the authority states that it is satisfied with both operators.
— It’s really nothing strange. The trains are old and worn because they have been rolling for a long time, therefore the Swedish Transport Administration is procuring new carriages, says Dan Lundholm, administrator at the Swedish Transport Administration.