Talgo night trains for Sweden
posted on 9th Apr 2026 16:44
On 1 April 2026, Trafikverket, the Swedish Transport Administration announced that it had selected Talgo and Siemens as suppliers in a tender for new night trains. They are to supply 91 carriages and ten Vectron locomotives, which are to be used on night services between Stockholm and Övre Norrland. The decision can be appealed within ten working days. If this does not happen, a contract will be signed, which is to be worth approximately 5.5 billion SEK (around 507 million EUR); this amount will probably also include maintenance of the trains by the manufacturer for some period of time.
From the stated number of ten Vectrons, it can be concluded that five sets will be formed, each with one locomotive at the end of the train. Unlike DSB, which for some incomprehensible reason previously considered the same configuration of its Talgo 230 trains before opting for a driving trailer instead of one of the two locomotives, the situation in Sweden is quite different. The snow conditions here are difficult, so light driving trailers at the front of the train would be at risk of derailment. In addition, two locomotives on the train will provide adequate redundancy if one of them being fault, which is very important in the severe frosts there.
According to the plans, the first Talgo trains are to start operating in 2030 and all are to be delivered by 2031. Hopefully, even with this almost five-year delivery period, Talgo will be able to meet the deadlines, especially since the cars are not to be of the wider Swedish but of the standard European profile. And what's more, Vectrons will be used, not locomotives from Talgo production, which simplifies the situation.
Trafikverket will lease the new trains to the future operator of the Stockholm - Umeå and Stockholm - Kiruna - Narvik night services under a new contract that is to follow on from the existing contract with SJ in December 2026. The attached illustration is only our editorial creation, showing the option where SJ would remain the operator of the services in question.
