Market

Sweden’s railway infrastructure – a strategic upgrade for the future

The Swedish railways are undergoing a historic modernization. Between 2000 and 2023, investments in railway infrastructure have increased fivefold to SEK 28 billion in 2023. The focus is on addressing the critical maintenance backlog and lifting the grid to robust and future-proof standards.

The national transport plan is the largest ever: SEK 799 billion has been allocated for the period 2022–2033, of which about 80% is directed to the railway sector. The plan was revised up further in 2024 to a whopping SEK 1,170 billion for the period 2026–2037. The investments prioritise increased capacity and availability in the existing network.

These investments are fully in line with the EU’s TEN-T programme and the European Green Deal, which aim to shift freight transport from road to rail. This increases the need for new, efficient and fast rail lines throughout Europe. The competitiveness of the railways is particularly strong in transports over 300 km, segments where transport volumes are growing steadily every year. As the rail network is strengthened, both the number of trains and the total volume of transport increase, driving the market for new infrastructure and qualified maintenance.

The passenger market is also on a strong rise. After the pandemic, the number of train journeys in Sweden increased by 35% between 2021 and 2022, and travel continues to increase. Investments in high-speed rail are expected to make the train the first choice on many interregional routes, shifting passengers from air and road to climate-smart rail.

The railway has a central role in the ongoing transition towards a more sustainable and robust transport system. Increasing demands for flexibility and societal preparedness, not least as a result of the Armed Forces’ presence and Sweden’s NATO membership, also contribute to the need to strengthen and modernize the railway network.

For Train Alliance, this means that the company operates in a market where the demand for robust, well-planned and flexibly usable infrastructure is high – for both the civilian and military sides. Several of the company’s strategic nodes and projects have been chosen with long-term societal benefits in mind, where the potential for both commercial transport, security of supply and collaboration between different modes of transport and societal actors is high.