Vy has four contracts in Sweden. Now the company is bleeding.
Vy has won a number of competitions to drive together in Sweden. Now the company is struggling with blood-red numbers.
When the company was called NSB, it fought hard to keep the train monopoly in Norway. And when the government last autumn canceled all further competition in Norway, Deputy CEO Gro Bakstad reacted as follows:
– This is good news for train customers. A good train offer is best ensured when train traffic in Eastern Norway operates as a whole, without fragmentation.
In Sweden, a different attitude is practiced. NSB / Vy has competed here since 2009. With not insignificant success. First with Tågkompaniet. Today with Vy Tåg AB.
In the summer of 2013, customer satisfaction among passengers in the Dalarne area was 98 percent.
But now the money is flowing out. Over the last five years, the company notes a loss of NOK 900 million.
In 2021 alone, Vy Tåg lost 460 million Swedish kroner, around 445 million Norwegian kroner.
445 million is more than a third of Vy’s total loss in 2021, states the serious website J. They follow the railway closely, and claim that View Train now bleeds in Sweden.
This is the explanation from the parent company in Norway:
- Corona pandemic.
- The compensation from the Swedish state and regional authorities is much lower than in Norway.
– Need 300 million to avoid bankruptcy
According to the website J, Vy Tåg’s equity and contributions from shareholders of 350 million have been eaten up. Now a new grant of over 300 million is needed.
J draws particular attention to the allegedly very unprofitable traffic with night trains between Stockholm and Norrland.
According to J, Vy submitted a very low bid to win a four-year contract. According to the website, Vy receives 10 million pr. years to drive the stretch. They have to pay 35 million just to rent locomotives and wagons.
Previously, SJ received 45 million for driving the same stretch.
Vy Tåg is now asking to change the agreement with the Swedish Transport Administration.
– The fact that the number of passengers varies is something tenderers must take into account, says press manager Bengt Olsson at the Swedish Transport Administration, who rejects renegotiation.
This has led Vy Tåg to contact the clients Norrtåg and Region Värmland. They will renegotiate agreements and refer to “significantly changed conditions”.
Tickets do not explain everything
Three of the agreements in Sweden are so-called net agreements. They mean that Vy Tåg must bear all costs. In return, they receive all ticket revenue and a small annual subsidy.
Ticket revenues have plummeted. But part of the explanation for the losses is according to J also that Vy Tåg assumed that most of the staff on the night train route they won would join from SJ. It did not happen.
Thus, they had to recruit new staff and spend a lot on overtime pay.
In January, Norrtåg paid compensation of 32 million for loss of income. There may be more.
Region Värmland must be positive to renegotiate the agreement. They have paid a compensation of around 14 million. According to J, a new agreement can apply from December 2023 at the earliest.
The sums are far from high enough.
View: Must have a new agreement
– We must renegotiate three of the agreements, says Erik Røhne, Executive Vice President for Passenger Trains at Vy.
– During the pandemic, we have had very few travelers. It is uncertain when they will have to return to the same level as before the pandemic, and which we based our offers on, he says.
We want compensation at the same level as SJ receives in Norway.
In Norway, SJ runs the Dovre line, the Nordland line and local trains around Trondheim. According to Røhne, the company has received almost 600 million in “pandemic” support from the Norwegian authorities.
In Sweden, where SJ runs many more trains, the company has received 357 million.
Financial assistance from Norway is considered irrelevant.
Think they were realistic
In Norway, Vy is owned by the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Røhne states that Vy now keeps informed about the situation in Sweden, continuously and in detail.
– What does it take to save Vy Tåg in Sweden?
– We have a close dialogue with the Swedish clients. The goal is to renegotiate the agreements with them, says Røhne.
– Our desire in both countries is financially sustainable train contracts, which take into account loss of income during the pandemic. In Norway, the government has announced that this is coming. In Sweden, most of the compensation has gone to operators who rent commercial routes, contracts without public clients, says Røhne.
– How much of the losses are due to coronary restrictions?
– We Norrtågstrekningen would have been profitable without the pandemic. Here, tourists make up a large part of the income base, as it is on the Bergen line. We believe the assumptions we made before the pandemic were realistic, says Røhne.
According to him, SJ submitted a tender in which they asked for approx. 20 million more in remuneration than Vy.
– They would also have suffered large losses, says Røhne.