Punctuality

Last update 04 October 2023

Reliable and punctual service with trains running on time is important to increase sustainable travel by regional trains in the Stockholm-Mälaren valley. Here we will regularly report on the punctuality of the regional train services. We report on a monthly basis about the punctuality of the Mälartåg lines from January 2022.

Mälartåg punctuality January-September 2023

	Örebro-Eskilstuna - Sthlm-Uppsala	Linköping- Eskilstuna- Västerås- Sala-Uppsala	Hallsberg-Katrineholm-Stockholm	Norrköping-Nyköping-Stockholm	Uppsala-Tierp-Gävle
January	88%	92%	86%	92%	95%
February	90%	90%	90%	91%	96%
March	86%	89%	88%	88%	91%
April	91%	88%	89%	90%	97%
May	85%	89%	88%	90%	97%
June	74%	87%	86%	89%	95%
July	75%	88%	90%	92%	96%
August	72%	88%	88%	89%	93%
September	78%	86%	91%	91%	94%

September: Punctuality increased by 2% in September compared to the previous month. The ongoing work on the Arlanda Line continued to impact the punctuality of train services between Uppsala, Stockholm, Eskilstuna, and Örebro. The primary causes of disruptions during the month were infrastructure issues. At the beginning of September, there were signal problems at Stockholm Södra station, affecting several Mälartåg trains. On the Uppsala to Gävle line, trains were delayed due to a switch malfunction. Midway through the month, a contact wire incident occurred between Eskilstuna and Arboga, and at the end of the month, a major signal fault at Örebro Södra station disrupted train services. Additionally, several wildlife accidents occurred, further impacting train operations.

August 2023: Mälartåg's punctuality decreased by 2% compared to the previous month, reaching 86%. The derailment of Arlandabanan and subsequent track work caused delays on the Örebro-Eskilstuna-Stockholm-Uppsala route, impacting Mälartåg's overall punctuality. In August, the traffic was affected by natural events such as floods, high water flows, and the risk of landslides. Signal faults at Stockholm Södra disrupted most of Mälartåg's lines, and a damaged overhead line at Skebokvarn also affected train traffic.

July 2023: The average punctuality of Mälartåg increased by two percentage points compared to the previous month, reaching 88 percent. The previous derailment on the Arlanda Line continued to affect traffic through speed reductions on the stretch. In addition to ongoing track work impacting punctuality, there were also several accidents, a downed overhead contact line near Södertälje, and thunderstorms causing disruptions in the infrastructure.

June 2023: The overall punctuality of Mälartåg for the month of June reached 86%, which is a decrease of 5 percentage points compared to the previous month. The low punctuality on the Örebro-Eskilstuna-Stockholm-Uppsala line, primarily due to restrictions at Arlanda, and has a significant impact on the average punctuality of Mälartåg's lines.

May 2023: The punctuality of Mälartåg trains was 91 percent in May, a decrease of 1 percentage point compared to April. Several major incidents caused disruptions in the traffic, including the derailment of an Arlanda Express train on the Arlandabanan line on May 27, signal and switch failures at multiple locations on multiple occasions, and a barn fire in Järna that halted all train traffic between Södertälje and Järna.

April 2023: The punctuality of Mälartåg trains increased by 3 percentage points to 92 percent in April, reaching the same levels as at the beginning of the year. The milder temperatures contributed to improved punctuality by avoiding major weather events. However, there were some disruptions in train traffic, mostly caused by various train operators, as well as due to ongoing track maintenance between Örebro and Arboga and a longer traffic stop in Eskilstuna.

March 2023: The overall punctuality for the month of March show variations between weeks, and peaked over 90 percent at the start of the month to land at 89 percent at the end of the month, a setback of 3 percentage points compared to the month of February. The month was marred by a number of various disruptions in traffic, everything from signal and switches failures to severe cold and heavy snowfall.

February 2023: Overall punctuality for Mälartåg remained at 92 percent during the month of February - the same level as in January - as a result of the adapted timetable which was introduced in December 2022. A major electrical malfunction in Stockholm caused problems for traffic and many accidents and falls by unauthorized persons in the track area led to traffic stoppages in several places. A number of signal faults and railroad switch faults as well as some minor vehicle faults contributed to delays during the month.

January 2023: The total punctuality of Mälartåg landed on 92 percent in January, an increase of 4 percentage points compared to December 2022. The increased punctuality applies to all lines and is largely due to the new adapted timetable with reduced traffic on several routes. Unauthorized persons in tracks, wildlife accidents and gear failures caused delays, as well as some vehicle failures.

Mälartåg punctuality Jan - Dec 2022

	Örebro-Eskilstuna - Sthlm-Uppsala	Linköping- Eskilstuna- Västerås- Sala-*Uppsala	Hallsberg-Katrineholm- Stockholm	Norrköping-Nyköping-Stockholm	Uppsala-Tierp-Gävle
January	74%	88%	87%	86%	-
February	78%	85%	67%	85%	-
March	78%	85%	35%	84%	-
April	72%	86%	83%	86%	-
May	78%	86%	87%	87%	-
June	85%	85%*	88%	88%	94%
July	87%	89%*	89%	92%	94%
August	84%	88%*	88%	90%	94%
September	87%	89%*	88%	87%	96%
October	87%	86%*	89%	85%	95%
November	87%	88%	91%	91%	94%

*= Due to the integration of Upptåget the 12th of june 2022 the line now also includes Uppsala.

December 2022: The total punctuality of Mälartåg was 88 percent for December, a decrease of 3 percentage compared to the previous month. The month was marked by harsh winter weather with snow and ice, which affected the infrastructure due to problems with tracks and switches. There were unusually many accidents during December, which led to delays and stops. On December 7, a technical fault also occurred at Trafikverket. All trains in traffic had to to stop at the platforms. This led to major delays and cancellations in traffic.

November 2022: The overall punctuality of Mälartåg was 91 procent for November, an increase of 1 percentage point compared to October 2022. On three of the lines, more than nine out of ten trains were on time – Norrköping-Nyköping-Stockholm, Uppsala-Gävle and Hallsberg-Katrineholm-Stockholm. The heavy snowfall was the biggest traffic affecting event during the month, when SMHI issued an orange warning and the Swedish Transport Administration requested that the train companies reduce their traffic.

October 2022: The overall punctuality for October was 90 percent which is a decrease of 1 percent compared to September. At the beginning of the month, a catenary fault occurred at Linköping which affected traffic to a large extent. Maintenance work between Sala and Västerås affected the route Uppsala-Sala-Västerås-Eskilstuna-Katrineholm-Linköping. The lack of train drivers has affected the general traffic this month as well, as have several wildlife accidents and unauthorized people on the track.

September 2022: Punctuality increased in September to 91 percent. Continued challenges with staff shortages at MTR led to delays and canceled departures this month as well. Several cases of unauthorized people and wild animals on the tracks led to long delays affecting several trains. Traffic was also affected by maintenance work at Södertälje station and signal failures at Kolmården and Örebro Södra, which caused major consequential delays.

August 2022: Punctuality remained at 90 percent during the month of August. A number of accidents occurred on all railway lines and a signal failure at Norrköping central station led to disruptions at the end of the month. August was also marked by faults with overhead contact lines and vehicle failure. Shortage of personnel, where regular staff were missing, but where substitutes could help out on short notice, also led to delays from the departure station and depot.

July, 2022: Punctuality rose during the month of July to 90 percent. Despite reduced traffic, there was still a shortage of train drivers, which led to delays. During the month of July, a number of fires occurred near the track area and caused longer traffic disruptions. During July month, overhead contact line ripping and signal failures also occurred, as well as many evictions of unauthorized people on tracks.

June 2022: Punctuality was improved in June compared to previous months and landed on 88 percent in total. MTR implemented reductions in traffic, which led to increased punctuality for the departures that were driven. During June, the number of long delays due to unauthorized persons on tracks decreased. However, there are still trail runs that cause disturbances. Traffic was affected a lot due to infrastructure failures, including a fault in an electrical installation, which caused disturbances mainly on Sörmlandspilen. A bridge fault at Kvicksund also affected traffic on Midsummer's Eve.

May 2022: Punctuality was 83 percent. A track failure between Uppsala and Knivsta had major consequences at the end of May. An extensive signal failure at Flen affected traffic and there have also been many signal faults during the month. Many accidents during the period also led to long stops, which in turn caused major delays in the route network.

April 2022: The rail replacement between Gnesta and Flen continued to delay trains during the first part of April. Since the completion of the track work, punctuality increased and the average for April was 81%, which remains low. MTR continues to face challenges with staff shortages this month. Weather conditions and infrastructure failures have also affected punctuality this month.

March 2022: An emergency rail replacement between Gnesta and Flen that lasted throughout March led to longer travel times on the route. The consequence was that few trains on the Hallsberg-Katrineholm-Stockholm (Sörmlandspilen) line were on time and that the average punctuality on Mälartåg's lines fell to 76%. Staff shortages at MTR and numerous track and switching failures also contributed to low punctuality. Linköping-Sala had the highest punctuality.

February 2022: Punctuality remained low, at 80 per cent overall for the Mälartåg lines. In addition to staff shortages at MTR and at the Finnish Transport Agency and its subcontractors, the month was marked by many infrastructure failures. In early February, a switchyard north of Stockholm caught fire. This caused major delays mainly on the Örebro-Eskilstuna-Stockholm-Uppsala line. Emergency track work between Gnesta and Flen led to longer journey times of up to 25 minutes on the Hallsberg-Katrineholm-Stockholm line. This track work will continue into April and will continue to cause delays on the line during this period. Several signal failures on the Norrköping-Nyköping-Stockholm line affected the punctuality of the line.

January 2022: Punctuality was low, 82% in total on Mälartåg's lines. One reason was the high spread of infection, with increased absenteeism among train crews and drivers as well as traffic controllers and maintenance contractors. Several major events also affected punctuality, such as switching failures in Linköping and on the Stockholm-Uppsala line, and an increased number of unauthorised persons on the tracks. However, there have been days when 95% of trains were on time.

Footnote: Some punctuality figures for Jan-April have been adjusted from previous communications due to an error detected in the reporting system. The error resulted in lower punctuality than the now corrected one.