In 2024, 87.2% of Swedish trains were on time – which in practice means that they arrived at their final destination less than six minutes behind schedule.
This is the worst figure since 2010, and the delays are partly due to maintenance work, but also to a large number of incidents involving unauthorized persons on the tracks.
– I want to emphasize that improving punctuality is not a quick fix, and that we continue to face a major challenge in balancing the sharp increase in traffic with a historically large investment in the maintenance of tracks, switches and overhead lines, says Anna Ericsson, head of the Traffic Operations Division, in a press release.
– Another major challenge is the issue of safety, partly linked to how we ensure a safe working environment for those who will carry out all the work in the track system – and partly to the issue of unauthorized persons on the tracks. In December, almost two thousand passenger trains were delayed due to unauthorized persons on the tracks, and there were 17 collisions, she continues.
Last year, a total of 1 065 954 trains departed in Sweden – which means that traffic volumes have increased by almost 40% since 2010.
“Situations no one should have to experience”
– We’ll have to wait until all the figures have been double-checked and analyzed, but there are many indications that we have never before had such a high impact on traffic due to unauthorized persons on tracks as in 2024, Ericsson explains.
– Thankfully, not all incidents where warning signals are ignored lead to accidents – but every day drivers are exposed to situations no one should have to experience at work, If I have one wish for 2025, it’s that we find ways to reverse that trend, because every accident is one too many.
She urges the public to remind each other never to cross railroad tracks, slip under downed barriers, or climb on wagons.
– Rail is safe, but as trains are both silent and heavy and can neither stop nor give way, awareness of the risks that do exist needs to be raised.
