Arlanda Express celebrates anniversary with new major investment

Arlanda Express, the Swedish high-speed train between Arlanda Airport and Stockholm City, reported its best financial results ever for 2008. The company is now investing in refurbishing its trains to increase capacity for seated passengers by at least 20%.

Arlanda Express plans to invest SEK 100 million in future trains between Arlanda Airport and Stockholm City. The trains will have new, modern interiors and the number of seats will increase by at least 20%. The upgrade is necessary since more people are choosing to travel by train to the airport. During the past year, Arlanda Express set a new passenger record with 3.2 million passengers.

Arlanda Express has seen an increase primarily among private passengers and foreign visitors. Increased environmental awareness is definitely a strong contributing factor and several customer surveys also indicate that passengers are very satisfied with the product.

Passengers are most satisfied with the short, 20 minute duration of the journey. This corresponds to half the time the journey would take by taxi or bus. Passengers are also very satisfied with Arlanda Express’s punctuality and the fact that Arlanda Express topped the list of Sweden’s most punctual train operators for the seventh consecutive year. In addition, Arlanda Express also offers its passengers a very generous travel guarantee – if the train is more than two minutes late, the passenger is entitled to a new ticket – regardless of the reason for the delay.

Excellent onboard service

Arlanda Express regards the train journey as an extension of the flight and always aims to maintain the same high level of service and customer treatment that passengers receive from airlines. Train attendants working onboard receive five weeks’ basic training in everything from tickets and customer service to first aid, fire training and safety procedures. In 2008, the company also offered all personnel the opportunity to participate in service training, which resulted in a joint service concept for the company – in which internal service between colleagues is also regarded as a vital part of the company’s successes.

Air passengers arriving at Arlanda Airport are met by images of well-known Swedish faces in the arrival hall. Arlanda Express assigned a number of well-known Swedes to record welcome messages that are played for passengers as the trains arrive at Stockholm Central Station. Each train unit has its own celebrity voice. The celebrities welcoming passengers include international sporting profiles Björn Borg and Annika Sörenstam.

The company’s objective to continuously develop its service has always resulted in generally excellent ratings. During 2008, Arlanda Express received the highest customer ranking in the travel industry in a Swedish survey, and the company’s internal customer survey showed an average rating of 4.55 out of a possible 5.

Public Private Partnership

The company will be celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2009 and the operation is built on a successful cooperation between the Swedish State and the business community, known as Public Private Partnership.

Arlanda Express is owned and operated by A-Train AB, which also planned, financed and constructed the new Arlanda Link, including the three new train stations valued at SEK 4 billion. When the Link was completed in autumn 1999, the facility was handed over to the State. In exchange, A-Train AB now leases the Arlanda Link, with an exclusive concession, meaning that it is entitled to operate train traffic up to 2040. The operation is run strictly on market conditions – it is the business community that takes the commercial risks and not the tax payers.

The trains were built by Alstom and the first train units arrived in Sweden in 1998. They underwent an extensive testing programme, including testing in severe Swedish weather conditions, in order to function perfectly in the Swedish railway system in time for the traffic start in November 1999.

A-Train AB was initially owned by a consortium comprising Vattenfall, NCC, Mowlem and Alstom. In 2004, A-Train AB was divested to the international investment company Maquarie Infrastructure Fund, which manages investments in 25 countries, such as airports, toll roads, water supply and railways.

Contributes to more environmentally friendly airports

If the Arlanda Link had not been built, Arlanda Airport would have had difficulty complying with the increasingly stringent limit requirements for carbon emissions. The airport’s emissions also include ground transportation. To date, more than 30 million passengers have chosen to use the train instead of road transportation.

The figures are positive for the environment and for the company and joint efforts are being made with the State to see whether it is possible for more passengers to take the train to the airport.

For the future, A-Train AB is highly interested in contributing to more train traffic to and from Arlanda. A proposal for a new traffic plan, which would entail an extensive supplement to the current traffic, was recently submitted to the state-owned company Arlanda Infrastructure.