Swedish passenger rail operator SJ has lowered ticket prices on its high-speed services after recording its best quarterly financial results for almost 10 years.
SJ announced this week a second-quarter operating profit of SEK 257 million, up from SEK101 million in the same period in 2013. Although revenues remained fairly static, SJ’s operating margin was up to 10.8 per cent – its highest level since 2005.
The strong results have allowed the operator to cut the price of its HST tickets – the first step in a planned review of SJ’s pricing structure.
Crister Fritzson, president SJ AB, said: “We can see that the improvement work, which we initiated in the beginning of the year, has given results and affected the company’s profitability in the second quarter.”
Despite positive financial results, infrastructure reliability issues had a significant impact on service levels. Although SJ’s long-distance punctuality actually rose in the second quarter of 2014, the company said it would find it difficult to meet its 88 per cent target.
