FINLAND\u2019s VR Group has confirmed that it will purchase MTR Nordic\u2019s Swedish subsidiary MTR Express (MTRX), which operates long-distance open-access services between Stockholm and Gothenburg in competition with national operator SJ.<\/p>\n
MTRX operates 18 services per day using six Stadler Flirt X74 EMUs and has a 30% market share on the route. It began operating in 2015 and now employs 120 people, reporting revenue of SKr 350m ($US 33.5m) in 2022. The business is described as profitable.<\/p>\n
The transaction requires approval from the Swedish competition authority, which is expected at the end of May. The cost of the deal was not disclosed.<\/p>\n
VR CEO, Ms Elisa Markula, says the transaction strengthens \u201cthe competitiveness of our existing business in Sweden and Finland\u201d and describes the Swedish long-distance market, which is around two-times the size of Finland\u2019s, as \u201cvery attractive.\u201d<\/p>\n
VR confirmed to IRJ that MTRX will be integrated into its long-distance operations and that it will establish common ways of working. It will also continue to improve passenger experience by introducing further digital services. VR adds that the agreement includes the transfer of ownership of the fleet of EMUs while the fleet maintenance contract with Stadler, which runs until 2033 under revised terms announced in October, will continue under the new owner.<\/p>\n
\u201cMTRX is an independent entity with high levels of customer experience and employee satisfaction,\u201d Markula says. \u201cThe company operates as a challenger in a competitive market and has also been lauded for its innovation capabilities – I trust that together we can create even better services for Nordic train passengers.\u201d<\/p>\n
VR entered the Swedish market in July 2022 through the acquisition of Arriva Sweden<\/a>, while its VR City Traffic Sweden subsidiary is an active participant in the country\u2019s regional public transport operations tenders. VR says the acquisition of MTRX supports its strategy to achieve profitable growth and is another step in its plan to evolve the business as it prepares for the start of competition in the Finnish market.<\/p>\n MTRX has been Sweden\u2019s leading operator for passenger satisfaction in surveys conducted by the independent Swedish Quality Index in each of the past seven years. The operator has introduced several innovations for passengers, including paperless ticketing and automatic delay compensation. It is also recognised as the most punctual operator on the Stockholm – Gothenburg route.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sale is a commercial decision in line with our overall business goals, with the aim of continuing the positive development of MTRX,\u201d says MTR Nordic CEO, Ms Caroline \u00c5strand. \u201cWe will now prepare for a smooth transition with the passengers’ best interests as the highest priority.\u201d<\/p>\n The sale is the latest development in MTR Nordic\u2019s apparent retreat from the Swedish market.<\/p>\n Stockholm Local Transport (SL) signed an emergency contract<\/a> with SJ in November to replace MTR as the operator of Pendelt\u00e5g commuter services in Stockholm from March 3 2024 for two years with two optional one-year extensions.<\/p>\n The emergency award followed SL\u2019s announcement in May 2023 that it would not exercise a four-year option to extend MTR\u2019s 10-year contract, which commenced in December 2016, citing \u201cserious problems.\u201d MTR says that commuter services have suffered from a continuing shortage of drivers as well as fleet maintenance problems, which led to severe disruption for passengers. The business has been operating at a loss.<\/p>\n MTR will also cease operating the Stockholm metro network in May 2025 after a consortium of Go-Ahead and Singapore-based transport company ComfortDelGro secured an 11-year contract last month.<\/p>\n The post VR Group to purchase MTR Express<\/a> appeared first on International Railway Journal<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FINLAND\u2019s VR Group has confirmed that it will purchase MTR Nordic\u2019s Swedish subsidiary MTR Express (MTRX), which operates long-distance open-access services between Stockholm and Gothenburg […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rail-news","category-transport"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10841\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Sweden\u2019s most punctual operator<\/h4>\n