SWEDISH state-owned operator SJ has put the first refurbished three-car X40 double-deck EMU into service.
The train has been operating on the Västerås - Stockholm line since February 6. Another 26 trains are set to be refurbished under the project, returning to service at a rate of one per month until 2027.
As well as Västerås - Stockholm, these trains will operate on the Linköping - Stockholm - Gävle - Ljusdal and Stockholm - Västerås - Örebro - Gothenburg routes.
VR Fleet Care was awarded a €35m contract to refurbish the X40s in April 2023, and is undertaking work at its plants in Oulo and Pieksämäki, Finland. The project includes the following improvements to the trains, which were built by Alstom and first entered service in 2006:
- more comfortable seating with new cushions and upholstery
- lowered tables that are better suited to working with a computer
- extra legroom for all seats
- windows that enable radio waves to pass for better mobile phone connectivity
- renovated toilets
- new lighting with more even and better light coverage
- more electrical sockets, and
- bicycle parking spaces.
“The modernised double-deck trains are much more comfortable for the traveller,” says SJ CEO, Monica Lingegård. “All surfaces in the train are new and the vehicle has a new design. They are also better suited for working and studying onboard than their predecessors.
“Over the next few years, we will invest SKr 19bn ($US 1.8bn) in new and refurbished trains, and our passengers can already start to see the results.”
