In the third quarter, SJ's profit before tax was 198 million kronor, up from only 93 million kronor in the same period last year. 

The company said the main reason for the rise in profit and sales was that more people were choosing train travel over other methods of transport, and that investments had been made to make train travel more competitive. 

“We have seen this trend for many years. During the third quarter we have increased our offer and seen a significant increase in journeys,” said CEO Crister Fritzson.

Between January and September, journeys with SJ trains increased by 11 percent. This news comes a day after figures from airport operator Swedavia revealed an eight percent decrease in domestic flights. The focus on the climate crisis is a likely contributing factor, Fritzson said.

Punctuality for long-distance trains, measured by the proportion of trains which were five minutes delayed or less, also improved in the third quarter to 82 percent, up from 75 percent. For medium distance trains, punctuality was 93 percent, an improvement on the previous figure of 88 percent.

And now, a total of 12 billion kronor will be invested in new regional and long-distance trains as well as upgrading existing X 2000-trains to increase their capacity by 15 percent. These upgraded trains will be brought out next year, while SJ will also invest in 30 new long-distance trains able to travel at 250 kmph and around 50 new regional trains.

All in all, this will amount to a 50 percent increase in capacity over the next five years.

Vocabulary