Advertisement

Trains delayed and roads slippery in Sweden despite lower snowfall

TT/The Local/at
TT/The Local/at - [email protected]
Trains delayed and roads slippery in Sweden despite lower snowfall
A snow plough and salt spreader clear the E18 motorway outside Stockholm. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT

Sweden's state-owned rail company SJ cancelled several train services on Tuesday as a result of the snowy weather, while forecasters warned that roads could still be slippery in many regions.

Advertisement

SJ is cancelling several regional trains on Tuesday between Stockholm and Uppsala, Stockholm and Västerås, and Gävle and Linköping at the request of the Swedish Transport Administration, which wants to free up space on the tracks. 

At the same time, weather forecaster SMHI warned that, while snowfall would decrease over the day, there would still be a risk of slippery roads in many areas.

Advertisement

"It's still continuing to snow, but the intensive snowfall we are now warning about will come to an end during the day, starting in the south of the country," state meteorologist Angelica Lundberg told the TT newswire.  "Over the coming days there may be an increased risk of slipping and this is the case most of all close to the coast." 

Bengt Olsson, press officer for the Swedish Transport Administration, told SVT that the disruptions seen on Sunday and Monday looked likely to ease off on Tuesday. 

"It's a bit calmer so far. There's another type of road surface to day. It's starting to freeze up a but. There's a lot of crust from the snow and patches of ice out on the road, so its the risk of skidding that we are trying to deal with today."

The slippery roads have led to some busses being cancelled, with Dalatrafiken, the bus operator in Dalarna, cancelling several regional bus services. 

Buses parked at the Keolis bus depot in Värtahamnen cruise terminal in Stockholm.
Photo: Anders Wiklund/TT

Stockholm's transport operator SL suspended the Lindingöbanan Light-railway line on Tuesday morning, and has also reduced some commuter train services. In Söderort, Huddinge and Botkyrka all bus services have been cancelled. 

"The measures taken to prevent skidding aren't working," SL's press spokesperson Andreas Strömberg told SVT. "At Juliaborg in Huddinge six of our buses got stuck, so the traffic controllers decided to cancel all further services so we can get in snow ploughs.

Snow was continuing to fall on Tuesday over much of central Sweden, and SMHI has issued the lowest "yellow" weather warning for Sörmland, Västmanland, Örebro, Dalarna, and the north of Värmland. 

In most places, there is now between 5cm-15cm of snow, with 20cm in some places. 

 

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also