Sweden - Private operators' electric and diesel multiple units

For a full scale picture, please click on the picture shown !

Please note that subsidiaries and joint ventures of SJ are also shown on this page although they might strictly speaking be considered as not private.

Many of the private operators actually lease their trains from SJ or even hire SJ to drive them on their own behalf. Therefore in Sweden it is always a bit difficult to say which train is from a private operator and which is not.

Arlanda Express

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Arlanda Express is the fast train connection between Stockholm central station and the Stockholm-Arlanda airport. For this connection they have specially designed trains used nowhere else. It is operated by a company called A-train AB, which has for the purpose seven class X3 electric multiple units, built by Alstom in Birmingham GB in 1998-99. Their max speed is 200 km/h and they can run the Stockholm-Arlanda route in just 20 minutes.
Picture from Arlanda airport station 11.8.2012 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Another one of the Arlanda Express trains has just arrived at Arlanda airport and the driver is watching if he could already close all doors.
Picture from Arlanda airport station 22.3.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

Inlandsbanan IBAB

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Inlandsbanan is a 1288 km long railway line along woodlands and upper hills all the way from Kristinehamn in the south to Gällivare in Lapland in the north. Inlandsbanan is also a train operator company, mostly referred to by its shorthand name IBAB (Inlandsbanan AB). IBAB runs mostly cargo trains, especially wood, but also some occasional passenger services using old Fiat made Y1 diesel railbuses.
Inlandsbanan class Y1 at Älvho (on the Mora-Östersund line). The class Y1 is a further development of an Italian railcar, class 668 and its key builder was Fiat. Therefore these trains have often been called Fiats, although most were already a long time ago remotorised by Swedish made Volvo engines. Photo by Marco van Uden. Uploaded Nov 29, 1995

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A more recent picture of the IBAB railbus, class Y1. During recent years the only passenger traffic on the Inlandsbanan route has been performed by just this one old railbus, one train pair per day. And the service isn't covering all of the long Inlandsbanan route, but just a modest part of it. In the past, SJ's yellow railbuses from the 1950s used to run on the entire route. But Inlandsbanan owns a number of these Y1 units even as they are not all being used.
Picture by Ilkka Siissalo 23.8.2009 in Mora.

Kalmar Länstrafik / Kustpilen / Veolia

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An old class Y1 railbus in use by what was then Veolia (now Transdev) on the so called Kustpilen service of Kalmar Länstrafik between Linköping and Kalmar. Compare with the ones shown on this page above, under the title IBAB. See also an older picture on this same page under the title Östgötatrafiken.
Picture in Linköping 29.6.2010 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Another view of an old Kustpilen Y1 railbus.
Picture in Linköping 29.6.2010 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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A more modern railbus of the Kustpilen service. This is a Bombardier Itino, known in Sweden as Swedish class Y31.
Picture in Linköping 29.6.2010 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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One of the extremely ugly "rubberface" trains of class Y2 of the Kustpilen service of Kalmar Länstrafik. Identical trains are common in Denmark.
Picture in Linköping 29.6.2010 by Ilkka Siissalo.

Krösatågen

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A Bombardier Itino by the operator Krösatågen.
Picture in Alvesta 30.6.2010 by Ilkka Siissalo.

Länstågen / BK tåg

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This is something you wouldn't find any more: FIAT Ferroviaria built class Y1 railbuses in old SJ's paintings, but with additional colorful "Länstågen" stickers. In 2003, when this picture was taken these Fiats had already received Volvo's engines. Later they were sent to Romania, Kosovo and other eastern European new users. Picture in Jönköping 2.3.2003 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Two of the Fiats waiting for next day and new tasks. These Fiats were at the time owned and operated by BK tåg.
Picture in Jönköping 2.3.2003 by Ilkka Siissalo.

Norrtåg

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Norrtåg uses Bombardier Itino diesel railbuses of class Y31 on some of their not yet electrified routes from Umeå.
Photo from Umeå station 9.6.2014 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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A typical Norrtåg train is a Coradia Nordic of the class X62 made by Alstom. They are new, but at least in the very beginning Norrtåg had severe problems with them since the Coradias of French/German design could not handle the huge amounts of snow which are so typical of Swedish north. Norrtåg even had to buy old second hand X10 and X11 trains to replace them. Photo at Norrtåg depot in Umeå 9.6.2014 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Norrtåg's very first Coradia Nordic class X62 no. 001.
Photo at Norrtåg depot in Umeå 14.7.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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When Norrtåg first got their brand new X62 Coradias, they had a lot of difficulties. They are essentially of French design by Alstom and they were not fit for the harsh winters up in Lapland. To get quickly at least something that was able to move, Norrtåg bought from Skånetrafiken several of their roughly 40 years old Pågatåg trains of class X11. In 2014 they were in use up in the north still with Skånetrafiken's colours and texts, which looked very odd indeed. In 2016 the same old trains were still there and still in use, but at least they had received Norrtåg's own painting by then.
Photo from Norrtåg depot in Umeå 14.7.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

MTR Express

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MTR Express is a new private operator competing in long distance express trains with the previous state monopoly SJ since 2015. MTR is owned by MTR Corporation of Hong Kong. The trains are brand new Swiss Stadler built EMUs of the third generation of Stadler's FLIRT family, with a fairly luxurious inner design. The Swedish train claas designation is class X74 with a max speed of 200 km/h. MTR runs several times per day the route Stockholm - Göteborg with just two (or once a day three) stops in between, at prices roughly 20% below SJ's pricing.
Picture of an MTR FLIRT at Stockholm central station 25.9.2015 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Inside view of an MTR FLIRT train's second class.
Picture from Stockholm central station 25.9.2015 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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A second view of the same MTR FLIRT. Most FLIRT trains are designed for short-haul regional traffic. These ones are different.
Picture from Stockholm central station 25.9.2015 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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One of the MTR Express FLIRT trains at Stockholm Central.
Picture from Stockholm central station 22.3.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

Mälartåg / Mälartrafiken / Mälardalstrafik MÄLAB / former Tåg i Mälardalen TiM

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Mälartrafiken is a company, which is owned collectively by the regions Region Stockholm (35 %), Region Sörmland (13 %), Region Uppsala (13 %), Region Västmanland (13 %), Region Örebro län (13 %) and Region Östergötland (13 %). The company was founded in 1991 and carried first the name Tåg i Mälardalen AB (TiM). The company runs regional services in a large area, from Gävle in the north to Norrköping in the southwest, Hallsberg in the west and Stockholm in the east. They bought 53 of these new Stadler KISS trains - which in Sweden cannot be called by that name, because KISS means pissing in the Swedish language. So in Sweden these are called Stadler Dosto. This new traintype is also known in Sweden as ER1, which is very misleading too, because the acronym ER1 has since the 1960s meant Soviet built electric multiple units used in several countries that used to belong to the eastern communist block. Nevertheless, these new doubledeckers have now been in use by the Mälartrafiken since December 2019. In addition to these Dosto trains, Mälartrafiken still uses also Alstom Regina trains, see below.
Picture from Nyköping 6.7.2022 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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The same Mälartåg Dosto as shown above, now seen from the other direction.
Picture from Nyköping 6.7.2022 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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This picture maybe better shows how long and large these new Mälartåg's Dosto trains are. It by far bigger than the Regina trains that used to serve these same lines earlier.
Picture from Norrköping 6.7.2022 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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This example is a Bombardier (now Alstom) built Regina train of the class X50 driving on behalf of what then was TiM, Trafik i Mälardalen. Similarly to TiM, Sweden is full of regional "private" train operators, collectively called as Länstrafiken where the region or county often owns a share or all of the company. Regina trains are quite typically their choice for an EMU. There are Reginas by the private operators of five different classes X50-X54 belonging to over ten operators.
Picture of TiM Regina X50 no.9002 called "Hyttan" (The Hut) at Västerås station 29.6.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Trafik i Mälardalen's Regina class X50 at Västerås station 30.6.2016.
Photo by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Another one of Trafik i Mälardalen's Regina class X50 trains, this time at Linköping station 29.6.2010.
Photo by Ilkka Siissalo.

Skånetrafiken / Pågatåg

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A Coradia Nordic class X61 train of Skånetrafiken in full speed near the Burlöv station in Skåne. These are the newest trains of Skånetrafiken. Skånetrafiken by the way calls its commuter trains by the service name Pågatågen. Picture near Burlöv 18.9.2014 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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During the time when Skånetrafiken had already ordered their new Coradia Nordic trains but had not yet received them, they rented temporarily some Bombardier Regina trains from other operators. Here is a Regina with Skånetrafiken's tapings at Lund station 22.7.2010. Picture by Ilkka Siissalo.

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These were the predecessors of modern Coradias at Skånetrafiken's Pågatåg service. It's a former SJ class X11, then already at least 40 years old and with -hmm?- a rather awful painting.
Picture from Lund station 22.7.2010 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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This picture is still from those times when all of Skånetrafiken's trains were old X10 or X11 units painted violet and nobody could even imagine anything better. Picture of an X10 from Malmö station 2.3.2003 by Ilkka Siissalo.

Tågkompaniet / Tåg i Bergslagen, TiB

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Tåg i Bergslagen is again one of the so called "Länstrafiken" regional services. The company which operates it, is Tågkompaniet. Norwegian state railways owns a majority stake in the company. And just like with the other similar services run by the same company (Xtåget, TiM, Vermlandstrafiken) the typical trains are modern Bombardier Reginas. This is a Bombardier Regina X52 in Borlänge.
Picture 23.8.2009 by Ilkka Siissalo.

Upptåget

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Upptåget is the so called "Länstrafik" company or service around Upplandet, the region around Uppsala city north of Stockholm. Currently the Upptåget trains are run by DSB Uppland, which is a daughter company of the Danish state railways DSB. This is one of Upptåget's Bombardier Regina trains, photographed 30.5.2018 att Uppsala station. Photo by Ilkka Siissalo.

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One of Upptåget's Regina trains, just about ready to leave Uppsala station. This was the train no. 8460 to Gävle at 20.13.
Picture 28.5.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Upptåget's Bombardier Regina class X52 no. 9063 arriving at Uppsala station.
Picture 28.5.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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An old X11-A train of Upptåget, here at the Uppsala station waiting to leave in direction of Gävle. Since 2021 this service has been run by Mälartåget with their Dosto trains, so this is history now.
Picture 30.5.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Another old X11 train of Upptåget, here just arriving att Uppsala station.
Picture 28.5.2018 by Ilkka Siissalo.

Värmlandstrafiken VTAB

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Värmlandstrafiken's Regina of the class X53 has just reached its final destination Kongsvinger on the Norwegian side of the border and soon a number of passengers can rush to a waiting NSB FLIRT to take them to Oslo.
Photo from Kongsvinger 30.6.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Another Värmlandstrafiken's Regina of the class X53 having just arrived from Kongsvinger in Norway.
Karlstad station 30.6.2016. Photo by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Värmlandstrafiken uses Bombardier Itino trains of the Swedish class Y31 on routes which are not electrified. Karlstad station 30.6.2016. Photo by Ilkka Siissalo.

Västtrafik - Västtågen

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Västtrafiken is the traffic company responsible for local and regional traffic in the Västra Götalands province. Västtrafiken has since 2021 started to change the colourings of their trains: instead of yellow and light grey they are now blue and light grey. But currently both colouring schemes can be seen in use. They also changed their main branding: Instead of the company's name Västtrafik, the large branding text by their trains reads now Västtågen, western trains. This 9080 is a Bombardier Regina train of the class X52.
Picture from Skövde 6.7.2023 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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The same Bombardier Regina train of the class X52 as shown above, but now seen from the other direction.
Picture from Skövde 6.7.2023 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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A Bombardier Regina of class X50 of Västtrafik just approaching Nässjö station.
Photo 29.6.2010 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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An old class X11 electric multiple unit of Västtrafiken at Göteborg central station 12.7.2013.
Picture by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Another picture of a Västtrafiken's Regina of class X50 at Göteborg central station 12.7.2013.
Picture by Ilkka Siissalo.

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A nightly shot of a Västtrafiken's Regina train which has just arrived to Jönköping.
Picture 2.3.2003 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Västtrafik has also new Alstom built class X61 Coradia Nordic trains.
Picture from Göteborg central station 12.7.2013 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Another Västrafiken X61, now in 2023. In the meantime the company has changed the brand name of their train services from Västtrafik to Västtågen and the colourings have also changed from yellow and grey to blue and grey. But this individual still had the old name and old livery. However it already had the modernised company logo sticker at its front.
Picture from Göteborg central station 7.7.2023 by Ilkka Siissalo.

Vättertåg

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An old class X14 EMU of the operator Vättertåg.
Photo at Nässjö station 29.6.2010 by Ilkka Siissalo.

X-trafik / Xtåget

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X-trafik is the local "Länstrafiken" operator around the city of Gävle. This is one of their Xtåget trains. it is a Bombardier built Regina of the class X52.
Picture from Sundsvall central station 14.7.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

Øresundståg

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When the bridge + tunnel connection between Sweden and Denmark over and under the Öresund strait was opened, a Swedish-Danish joint venture was created to handle passenger traffic. The service got the name Øresundståg and was first run by DSBFirst, which was a joint venture of the Danish state railways DSB and the First bank. However, after a while First pulled out of the consortium after heavy losses. Øresundståg ordered "rubbernose" trains of the class X31 from Bombardier, former Kalmar Verkstäderna. Part of the Øresundståg X31s are owned by SJ and part by DSB. They run a frequent service between the two countries and also several routes deep into Sweden, for example to Kalmar, Göteborg and Karlskrona. Here is a typical Øresundståg X31, still with the DSBFirst stickers, at Växjö station 30.6.2010. Photo by Ilkka Siissalo.

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An Øresundståg X31 in full speed coming from Denmark, seen here near Burlöv station in Skåne. Notice that by 2014 the "DSBFirst" stickers had disappeared.
Picture 18.9.2014 by Ilkka Siissalo.

Östgötatrafiken

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Two old class X14 EMU units, which Östgötatrafiken had taken over from SJ. Östgötatrafiken's painting looks fairly awful on these!
Picture from Linköping 29.6.2010 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Another view of an X14 of Östgötatrafiken.
Picture from Linköping 29.6.2010 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Östgötatrafiken's old X14 trains were not always as ugly as they are today (/ were recently). In 2003 this X14 still looked quite decent in its then new white painting. Picture from Linköping 3.3.2003 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Same colouring, but a more modern train. This is a Coradia Nordic made by Alstom, class X61.
Picture from Linköping 18.9.2014 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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In 2003 Östgötatrafiken still had some old class Y1 diesel railbuses made by Fiat Ferroviaria. The one on the left is in the colours of Veolia, the new operator of the service. Picture in Linköping 3.3.2003 by Ilkka Siissalo.

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Another Fiat Y1 of the same service, but now with the paintings of Veolia.
Picture from Linköping 3.3.2003 by Ilkka Siissalo.
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