DSB’s failed adventure into Sweden is running out of track. The Swedish traffic authorities decided to drop the national railway provider’s daughter company DSB Småland in favour of the French transportation giants Veolia for the Krösatågstrafiken railway stretches in southern Sweden.
DSB revealed that an agreement signed last year included a section that would allow the two parties to end their partnership prematurely. Financial disagreements have now catalysed an end to the agreement.
“The hand-over of Krösatågstrafiken is in accordance with DSB’s strategy about a healthy DSB, including in the remaining foreign operations,” Peter Christensen, the head of DSB Sverige, said in a press release. “We will now begin preparations for the practical hand-over.”
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Cutting ties abroad
DSB officially ended its foreign excursion into Sweden and Germany in the spring of 2011 after the infamous DSBFirst scandal began to gather momentum, but the railway provider has remained involved in the two countries in a limited capacity.
Last year, DSB withdrew from deficit-ridden activities in DSB Väst and Roslagsbanen and today it only operates a single stretch of rail in Sweden, DSB Uppland, and a small stretch in Germany.
According to the Transport Ministry, DSB’s foray into foreign markets has cost the state coffers close to 700 million kroner.
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Profits, prices on the up
Severing its ties abroad may have begun to pay dividends. Last month DSB conveyed that it had managed to produce solid profits of over 300 million kroner after the first three quarters of 2013.
While that was a 367-million kroner improvement from the year before, DSB’s customers were still notified this week that they could expect a ticket-price increase in January.
DSB indicated that the employees in DSB Småland will be offered jobs with Veolia in connection with the hand-over.
