Night trains of Sweden

Night trains of Sweden (Swedish: Nattåg) are over-night sleeping car services provided by three different operators across Sweden, one of these trains terminates in Narvik in Norway, and one runs from Stockholm to Berlin.

Current services

SJ

SJ operates its night trains with a variety of service levels, they offer seats, couchettes (Swedish: Liggvagn), a bed in a sleeping compartment (Swedish: Sovvagn) or a private 1-class sleeping compartment with an en-suite shower and WC, not all service levels are available on all night trains.[a][1]

As of 2026, SJ operates night trains on the following routes:

  • Stockholm to Östersund, Åre and Duved, outbound train 70 & train 71 return.
  • Stockholm to Malmö, outbound train 1 & train 2 return.
  • Stockholm Central to Umeå and Luleå Central, outbound train 92 & train 91 return. From 13 April 2026 onwards, the train will only operate between Stockholm and Umeå .[2]
  • Stockholm Central to Umeå and Narvik (in Norway), outbound train 94 & train 93 return, there are through coaches to and from Luleå Central attached to these trains that become trains 3963 and 3964.[3] From 13 April 2026 onwards, the train will only operate between Stockholm and Luleå.[2]

RDC Deutschland operates on behalf of SJ a night train between Stockholm to Malmö, Hamburg and Berlin, outbound train EuroNight 345 & train EuroNight 346 return.[1] From late August 2026, RDC Deutschland will take over the service.[4]

Snälltåget

Snälltåget operates a seasonal night train between Stockholm, Malmo, Copenhagen, Hamburg and Berlin, outbound 301 & train 300 return.[b] In 2024 it operates outbound daily except Saturday between 31 March and 1 November. On Fridays the journey is extended to Dresden. There are additional trips going to Dresden via Berlin on Wednesdays 27 November, 4 and 11 December. In each case the return journeys take place on the following day.[5]

Snälltåget runs a seasonal night train from Malmö via Lund, Hässleholm, Alvesta, Nässjö, Linköping, Norrköping, Stockholm, and Uppsala, arriving the next morning in Östersund, Undersåker, Åre, Duved, Enafors, and Storlien, outbound train 3920 & train 3921 return, on Wednesday and Saturday evenings. The return journey takes place on Thursday and Sunday afternoons from the mountains. In 2024 this service is running between 19 June to 29 September 2024.[6]

History

Night trains were launched in 1873 when sleeping facilities were provided by convertible compartments with the first sleeping cars appeared in 1885, initially in four wheel coaches, bogie wagons were introduced by Statens Järnvägar in 1891.[7]

Third class sleepers were introduced in 1910 with the first examples appearing on the Stockholm to Gothenburg service. From this time the sleeping compartments were standardised so that first-class passengers had single berth compartments (although sometimes a second-class compartment would be marked as first class and would only be for solo occupancy), double-berths compartments for second-class and three berths, one above the other in third class.[8]

In 1955 sleeping coaches were provided from Stockholm to 24 domestic destinations every night and over a million sleeping car passengers were conveyed.[7]


Notes

  1. ^ SJ was formerly SJ AB, a state-owned passenger train operator created from Statens Järnvägar, a former government agency.
  2. ^ Snälltåget is an open access railway company in Sweden owned by Transdev.

References

  1. ^ a b "Discover Sweden by train: SJ night trains". SJ. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b Johnsson, Peter (2025-12-10). "Halverad nattågstrafik till Norrbotten". Järnvägar.nu. Retrieved 2026-01-29.
  3. ^ "How to travel by train from London to Sweden". The Man at Seat 61. Archived from the original on 27 August 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  4. ^ "RDC Germany will continue night train Berlin Stockholm". RDC Deutschland. Retrieved 2026-01-29.
  5. ^ "Night train Berlin–Copenhagen–Stockholm". Snälltåget. Archived from the original on 1 September 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  6. ^ "Right on track to the mountains this summer!". Snälltåget. Archived from the original on 13 September 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  7. ^ a b Greville 1956, p. 815.
  8. ^ Hamilton Ellis 1937, pp. 261 & 264.

Bibliography

  • Greville, M.D. (December 1956). "A Century of Railway Development in Sweden". Railway Magazine. Vol. 102, no. 668. pp. 811–817.
  • Hamilton Ellis, C. (October 1937). "The Railways of Sweden - Part 2". Railway Magazine. Vol. 81, no. 484. pp. 258–267.

Further reading

  • Berggrund, Lars; Bårström, Sven (2014). De första stambanorna: Nils Ericsons storverk [The first main lines: Nils Ericson's masterpiece] (in Swedish). Gävle: Sveriges Järnvägsmuseum. ISBN 978-91-979236-1-3.
  • Kullander, Björn (2006). Järnvägens historier [Railway Histories] (in Swedish). Sveriges Järnvägsmuseum. ISBN 91-631-9446-5.
  • Watts, C.E.N. (June 1953). "Railway through Lapland". Railway Magazine. Vol. 99, no. 626. pp. 380–384.
  • Winchester, Clarence, ed. (1936), "Sweden's rail system", Railway Wonders of the World, pp. 1161–1165
  • Historiskt - about Swedish railway history (in Swedish and English)
  • järnväg.net - information on all Swedish railways (in Swedish)
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