During Train & Rail 2023, the architectural and consulting company Sweco was present as a visitor at the fair. For Train & Rail 2025, they have chosen to invest a little more and take the step of becoming an exhibitor.
We spoke to Jan Thulin, Senior Business Advisor Railways, at Sweco, about their participation at this year’s fair.
What kind of company is Sweco and what do you work with?
Sweco is Europe’s leading architecture and consulting company.
We plan and develop tomorrow’s sustainable communities and operate in a very broad area with everything from hospitals, industry and architecture to energy systems, environmental services and everything that has to do with society’s transport.
So a very multifaceted business that constantly aims to create sustainable communities for the future by, for example, enabling the green transition.
Why have you chosen to participate in Train & Rail 2025?
For us, it is important to always have an ear to the market and have good communication with both our customers and our potential partners in the future. We have identified the types of forums in which we should participate and concluded that Train & Rail is now the fair – in the field of rail transport and infrastructure – that we really want to be seen at.
We were there as visitors two years ago. We evaluated what it would look like next time and have now decided that we will have a clearer footprint at the fair with our own stand. Simply because we believe that Train & Rail is one of the most important forums for us on the rail side.
It’s an industry with a lot going on and it’s very much on the agenda in the media and in politics, so Train & Rail is a good forum to come together and discuss solutions to the challenges facing the industry
What is your objective with Train & Rail?
As I mentioned, it is important for us to always have our ear to the market, to always know and understand what is happening and what is going on. One of our objectives is to meet our customers, listen to them and try to understand the challenges they have for the future so that we can then meet and help them solve these challenges.
So Train & Rail is a good forum to meet and listen to our customers but also a good opportunity to meet our current and prospective partners. Both Swedish and international consultants but above all entrepreneurs and financiers to discuss possible collaborations with for the future.
What is the most important issue from your perspective for the future of railways and how are you currently working on this issue?
Yes, we were talking about the fact that the railway issue is very hot today in Sweden and unfortunately it is from a rather negative perspective. There are very big challenges with the railroad today when it comes to reliability and robustness. Confidence in rail as a means of transport is very low, which is sad because we believe that rail today is the most climate-smart way to transport and that it is a very sustainable mode of transport.
All these challenges facing the railways are important for us to address and, as advisors, to help our clients overcome.
We apply our knowledge at all stages of a railway project. From early studies and analysis to operation and maintenance issues via design and planning. All to create a more robust and reliable railway that has high capacity and is efficient to maintain. At the same time, we must work to ensure that the actual production and construction of, for example, new railways is done in the most climate-smart and sustainable way possible.
The challenge with the railroad today is that the facility is very worn out in parallel with the capacity ceiling being reached. Traffic has increased incredibly in recent years without the capacity being expanded. And the most important thing to increase this capacity is not to increase speed, but to build more tracks to increase redundancy and to enable efficient operation of trains at different speeds.
The Swedish Transport Administration is our largest and most important customer, and whatever challenges they face, we want to be there and contribute with the great expertise we have at Sweco in railways.
What do you want from industry colleagues and policy makers to enable society to meet the demand, financial constraints and climate goals of future rail transport?
If I may wish freely, I would like to see clear, long-term and, over time, stable and consistent political decisions regarding the railways. Preferably cross-bloc agreements that last over terms of office. This applies to both investments in more tracks and appropriations to make maintenance more efficient.
I would also like to see the courage to try out completely different types of financing solutions to complement the appropriations in the National Plan.
Furthermore, I hope that the Swedish Transport Administration manages these decisions well and has the same clarity, long-term approach and stability in its demand and requirements on the market that are needed to realize the political decisions.
This would create positive stability and security in the sector, as well as a clear incentive for its operators to hire and develop to meet demand.