Passenger train services • Main line services / Ticketing • Intercity • Private mainline operators • Sweden • Snälltåget

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Birth of the business

Veolia Transport’s operations in Sweden began in 1998 when the French company CGEA bought AB Linjebuss from the Johnsson group. The following year, in 1999, the company acquired 60% of the Stockholm metro and in 2002, the remaining 40%. Veolia Transport Sverige AB thus became the owner of the entire Stockholm metro system from 2002 to 2009.

Veolia Transport Sverige AB also had contracts for Saltsjöbanan, Lidingöbanan, Nockebybanan and Tvärbanan until 2012. In addition to public transport in the city of Stockholm, Veolia has controlled public transport in several counties in Sweden. In 2011, the company merged with Transdev and in 2015 changed its name to Transdev Sverige AB.

Mainline traffic
Snälltåget operates train services in the Swedish non-subsidised commercial segment. The company was originally called Utmanartåget when Transdev was still called Veolia Transport. A first private night train, outside the Swedish public group SJ, was launched in winter 2007 between Göteborg and Storlien, to coincide with the Alpine World Ski Championships.

Stockholm – Malmö

On 3 July 2009, as part of the deregulation of the railways, Veolia trains had no specific name and were marketed simply as Veolia Transport. Veolia Transport had chosen Hector Rail to provide traction for the service until the autumn. Hector Rail had a strict sub-contracting role. Initially, the service only operated at weekends, but was later extended to weekdays.

The Stockholm – Malmö journey (600 km) was offered at a single fare, including WiFi, of SEK 299 (€27), whereas SJ’s prices ranged from SEK 271 (€24) to SEK 1,016 (€92) in 2nd class, excluding WiFi. With a slower train than SJ’s and three return trips per week, Veolia is seeking to attract private or tourist travellers rather than business customers.

At the end of August, the frequency was doubled and on 1 October, with the opening up of international passenger transport, Veolia planned to extend the service to Denmark with domestic cabotage, despite the fact that the full opening up of the Swedish rail network would formally have to wait until 1 October 2010.

The train uses a number of SJ car types, including BC2 and Bc-t types, B1 cars and R7 dining cars. In the past, many of the cars were leased from NetRail, but later many were purchased outright.

2012 : SJ stops its night train Malmö-Berlin

The Malmö-Berlin night train has a long history, linking Sweden with what was then East Germany since the 1960s. It has two special features: 
• A compulsory crossing of the Baltic, with the train boarding a ferry;
• an exception in terms of gauge, with wide Swedish carriages accepted on German territory, only between Sassnitz and Berlin-Lichtenberg.

Previously operated by the Deutsche Reichbahn (GDR), this train was taken over by the Swedish public operator SJ after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Since the liberalisation of international services in January 2010, this type of train has had to find its economic equilibrium. It seems that SJ has accumulated a number of problems, with revenues too low in the face of rapidly growing low-cost aviation.

Veolia Transport took advantage of SJ’s decision to take over the operation of the train with new production methods. The private operator simply took over the Swedish carriages as they were, and the train no longer had sleeping cars as it once did, but instead sleeper and seat carriages. The service was only scheduled to run 3 times a week during the summer season. It was operated by GVG on the German side.

2013: the Snälltåget brand

The Snälltåget (Swedish for ‘fast train’) brand became a reality in November 2013, and was used on the livery of the carriages. The brand was in fact owned by Merresor, a bus operator acquired by Transdev Sverige. Merresor was responsible for marketing on three routes 
• Daytrain Stockholm – Malmö; 
• Night train Malmö – Åre (seasonal only); 
• Night train Malmö – Berlin (seasonal only). 

The interest in seasonal night trains to Swedish ski resorts has not waned over the years. ‘We’re seeing a lot of interest in travelling directly by night train to Vemdalen, which is very rewarding,’ explained Marco Andersson, Marketing Director at Snälltåget.

Since 2014, a night train to Vemdalen has departed from Malmö via Stockholm every week from Christmas to Easter, rather than sporadically. This was a collaboration between Snälltåget and Destination Vemdalen. In some weeks, the train also passed through Gothenburg. ‘We know that demand for rail travel to the mountains has been high in recent years, and with our investment we want to offer more sports holidaymakers the chance to travel comfortably and safely to two of Sweden’s best ski areas,’ Marco Andersson told the press.

The end of Veolia Transport
In February 2015, Veolia Transport changed its name to Transdev Sverige AB. The name change was a result of the worldwide launch of the Transdev brand by the French parent company.

The name change to Transdev Sverige AB then concerned all activities that existed under the Veolia Transport Sverige AB brand. The group’s other brands – Flygbussarna, Styrsöbolaget, Snälltåget and People Travel Group – were not directly affected and retained their existing brands.

Vectrons and german’s carriages

The first tests of the Siemens Vectron locomotive took place in Sweden in 2012. In 2013, Blå Tåget leased one to Railpool for its Gothenburg-Stockholm-Uppsala passenger services. Now approved, Snälltåget leased 3 Vectron locomotives to ELL from 2016, class 193, painted red and equipped with Snälltåget’s colour scheme for Åre-Stockholm-Malmö-Berlin traffic. Hectorrail, the long-standing partner, ordered 20 locomotives which were delivered between 2016 and 2019 with the usual grey colour scheme and class 243.

The arrival of these new locomotives also meant that Snälltåget itself was hiring its own drivers. At the same time, in 2017, Snälltåget began operating connecting buses in south-east Sweden from Växjö, Karlshamn, Ronneby and Karlskrona under the name ‘Snälltåget på väg’ (connecting bus).

In 2016, Snälltåget bought 19 of the 42 ex-Bm235 coaches owned by Deutsche Bahn from Hectorrail (which cancelled its plans to introduce its own trains). The cars were sent to Atelierele Griviţa in Romania in 2017 for a complete interior refurbishment, including new air conditioning equipment. 16 cars were converted to Bmpz and 3 cars to WRbmz dining cars. These cars enabled better compositions on the Malmö-Stockholm trains.

2020 – 2021 : transition years…

As a result of some criticism over their lack of air conditioning, a rolling stock replacement operation took place in 2019 on the Malmö-Berlin night train. Snälltåget had purchased 10 ex-DB Bvcmz sleeper cars, which had once operated on the City Night Line.

But the bad news of 2020 didn’t allow passengers time to enjoy the change. The service was suspended for two reasons: the pandemic, of course, but also the sudden termination by Stena Lines of the ferry link between Trelleborg and Sassnitz. “The late information, the uncertainty about the future of the Trelleborg–Sassnitz rail link, quarantine rules in Germany, and the many cancellations are forcing us to cancel the Malmö-Berlin train for the rest of the summer [2020]. Instead, we are choosing to look ahead and plan new departures once the pandemic is over,” explained Marco Andersson, Snälltåget’s marketing director at the time.

The revival of the summer night connection came in the form of a new night train from Stockholm to Berlin, via Malmö and also Höje Taastrup (in the Copenhagen area), arriving early in the morning in Hamburg before continuing to Berlin. Goodbye 2020…

On June 27, 2021, Snälltåget launched its new night train connecting three European capitals: Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Berlin. This train was introduced as a publicly subsidized Stockholm-Hamburg night service was being planned, replacing the original idea of a Malmö-Brussels connection.

Towards the sale of Snälltåget

In November 2021, employees of Snälltåget and the company Merresor Buss were informed that these two subsidiaries of Transdev Sweden were up for sale. Eva Tiséus, Marketing and Communications Director at Transdev Sweden, explained that “We want to focus on our core business, publicly contracted transport services (PSC). This is a decision we have made at Transdev Sweden and it aligns with the group’s strategy.” At the time, PSC operations accounted for nearly 90% of Transdev’s revenue in Sweden. The two subsidiaries are to be sold separately to players in the industry.

In December 2024, Transdev’s two major shareholders—Caisse des Dépôts (CDC, 66%) and Germany’s Rethmann Group (34%)—entered exclusive negotiations. CDC agreed to sell an additional 32% stake to Rethmann France, which would give Rethmann a 66% majority, leaving CDC with 34%. The deal, slated for completion in 2025, valued at over €1 billion, aims to reinforce Transdev’s global growth while preserving its French headquarters and social commitments.

Rethmann, a family-owned German industrial group active in logistics, recycling, water treatment, and transport, already held a 34% stake since 2019 and has been steadily expanding Transdev’s reach in Germany. CDC’s partial sale aligns with its strategy to refocus on domestic transport investments. The agreement ensures that Transdev retains strong social safeguards and continues operating with its French identity while benefiting from Rethmann’s long-term, growth-focused support. In 2025, however, it was still unclear what impact this would have on Transdev Sverige and the Snälltåget brand. 🟧

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Main line • Intercity • Sweden • Lexical