Snälltåget... This is who we are
Our mission is to give our customers a better journey at a better price. We have two trains that operate between Malmö and Stockholm. In the winter our service stretches to Sweden's winter paradise, Åre, and in the spring and summer to trendy Berlin. Yes, Snälltåget is smaller than most of the rail service companies in Sweden. This is the reason why we can give you the best personable travel experience. As our customer, we want you to feel seen and heard. We want you to feel welcome. We want to give you the best service possible. We also have a real restaurant. With hot meals, cold drinks and an unbeatable atmosphere we can call our restaurant "Krogen" or "The Pub", when translated from Swedish.
Our history
Year 2006. Deregulation of SJ, Sweden’s sole train operator at the time, begins. During this time in the city of Luleå, a couchette (sleeper) is damaged while being shunted. An offer comes into us to buy this coach, as well as the other 9 coaches of the same model. Hence, a new train was born.
On January 31, 2007 we launched our first train in connection with the Alpine World Championships being held in Åre. Our route that day was Gothenburg, Stockholm, Åre, Storlien. Our name that day was "Utmanartåget" (the Challenger], as we were the first night train to challenge SJ.
2008. Operation of our night train to Åre was in full bloom and in the summer we operated what was to be Northern Europe's longest night train line Malmö-Stockholm-Narvik.
2009. Parliament passed legislation which gave us the possibility to operate passenger trains in competition with SJ, but only on the weekends. On July 3rd to the exact minute when the legislation allowed it, we rolled our first train from Stockholm Central to Malmö Central. What an awesome feeling!
2010. Total deregulation of SJ's monopoly. The downfall of this monopoly enabled us to establish a bigger and stronger timetable that could reach out to more customers and give a more affordable travel between Malmö and Stockholm. Since our debut in 2010, the average price for a train ticket between Malmö and Stockholm has gone down by 50 sek, a benefit to all customers that travel between Malmö and Stockholm.
2012. The birth of our spring and summer night trains from Malmö to one of Europe's most exciting cities, Berlin.
In November 2013, we changed our name from Veolia Transport to Snälltåget. We are still owned by the same company (Transdev SA), but with our new brand, our mission is to create a clear picture of what we stand for. We could translate Snälltåget for you, but you can discover that definition on your journey with us.
2014 we began operating night trains to Vemdalen in cooperation with Destination Vemdalen.
2016 we had our first departures to Vasaloppet and Tjejvasan.
2017 we celebrate our ten year anniversary with a connecting bus service to Blekinge and Växjö and last but not least; trains to Jämtland in the autumn!
2018 our newly renovated coaches and restaurants are in service between Malmö and Stockholm.
2019 we launch connecting bus services Jönköping – Nässjö and online booking to 30 German cities. We invested in ten coaches for international night trains to expand the traffic Malmö – Berlin in 2020 with more than 150%. Ramundberget and Tänndalen was added to our connecting bus services and we started trains to south swedish Lappland in collaboration with Inlandsbanan. According to Differ, Snälltåget is the sixth greenest brands in Sweden and the second greenest brand of all transport in Sweden.
2021 we began operating in Denmark by launching our night train Stockholm–Malmö–København–Hamburg–Berlin, replacing the former route Malmö–Berlin via Trelleborg–Sassnitz. We expanded our schedule to Jämtland and operated with departures from July until September and from mid-December until the end of April.
2022 we celebrate our 15 year anniversary by launching our new route Malmö–Salzburg during the winter, which with its 1700 kilometres makes the longest night train route in Europe. The timetable to Berlin is expanded and we now operate over 200 days per year. We also have departures to Dresden and Oktoberfest in Munich.
2023 Snälltåget wins Grand Travel Awards sustainability award on the basis of the following: "Snälltåget – at the core – has a business idea to offer affordable train journeys to the Swedish mountains, cities in Europe and the Alps on a commercial basis – the company's innovation and knowledge of the market is the deciding factor. Snälltåget proved that regular night trains to Europe are possible – even when faced by infrastructural bottlenecks and administrative obstacles that still characterize the railway. Years before the politicians procured night trains with SJ and took credit for the night train's renaissance, Snälltåget had shown that it is possible to run night trains to Germany without subsidies and support from taxpayers. All in all, Snälltåget offers a sustainable travel product that is characterized by entrepreneurship, even in headwinds."
2023 Snälltåget wins the Grand Travel Awards sustainability prize, becomes its own railway company in Denmark, and operates our first train to Austria in the summer. Snälltåget chooses to collaborate with the European Chicken Commitment for improved animal welfare. The decision includes all the chicken we purchase, and all criteria will be met by the year 2026.
Our owner
Snälltåget acts like a small-scale business, but has a stable and long-term owner as a part of the Transdev Group. Transdev SA is owned 34% by a German family business, Rethmann-Gruppe and 66% by Caisse des dépôts et consignations (CDC). CDC is a French investment fund whose mission is to act with public interest in focus and to limit the territorial divisions by helping the French municipalities and regions to develop.