Updated 02.53 | Published 02.49
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full screen Almost nine out of ten passenger trains arrived on time in March. Archive image. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT
After a tough winter, passenger trains in Sweden improved their punctuality. Almost nine out of ten trains arrived on time during the month of March, preliminary statistics from the Swedish Transport Administration show.
Punctuality for the 89,503 passenger trains that ran in March landed at 89.8 percent, compared to 87.6 percent in February. A contributing factor is that the short-distance trains, which account for just over half of all passenger traffic, have performed better than in a long time.
The definition of punctuality is that the train reaches its final station within five minutes of the timetable.
Even during the month of March, many trains, almost 2,000, were delayed because unauthorized people were on the track.
“The fact that it delays trains and affects the drivers’ work environment is serious in itself, but it is primarily a matter of life and death,” says operational area manager Anna Ericsson on the Swedish Transport Agency’s website.
Other factors that slowed train traffic included track faults, gear faults, speed reductions due to high water flows and maintenance.
In March, the short-distance trains had a punctuality of 94.0 percent, the medium-distance trains 87.5 and the long-distance trains 73.1 percent.