The Finnish state-owned railway company, VR Group, has acquired MTR Express (Sweden) AB, expanding its presence in the Swedish passenger transport market.
This acquisition marks VR’s entry into long-distance passenger services in Sweden and is part of its strategy to grow and become more competitive. Not only in Sweden but also in Finland, where competition in the rail sector is expected to increase.
MTR Express, known as MTRX, has been operating open access traffic between Stockholm and Gothenburg since 2015. It will now become part of VR’s long-distance traffic operations. The acquisition follows VR’s previous expansion into Sweden in 2022 through the acquisition of Arriva Sverige AB, demonstrating VR’s continued interest in strengthening its presence in the Swedish rail market.
Caroline Åstrand, CEO of MTR Nordic, said: “We are looking forward to this new phase in MTRX’s journey, and we are proud of the development in Swedish rail transport that we have been accelerating with MTRX’s customer focus and innovation capability. VR is a trusted industry expert looking for growth in long-distance traffic, which gives MTRX a great opportunity to continue to grow green rail travel within the long-distance market”.
With this acquisition, VR is seeking profitable growth and at the same time gaining experience from a competitive long-distance market, further strengthening the company’s competitiveness and preparing for increasing competition in the Finnish rail sector.
