Across Central Sweden by train - SJ Intercity first class review

[@FlexxenRandomPlaces]

The old wagons are soooo classy. The locomotive fits perfectly to these wagons - perfect combination lookwise! 😍

[@cvkline]

Took this exact train from Åre (further north from Östersund) to Stockholm in 2016! As an American, I'm always frankly stunned by the comfort and efficiency of trains in Europe. It was the quickest-seeming 8-hour trip I think I've ever enjoyed.

[@christophernoble6810]

As a regular visitor to Sweden (my son lives there) I am impressed with their railways despite some shortcomings. The Rc6 locos should be around until at least 2026 on day services, thereafter just on the sleeper services. 70% of freight trains are carrying timber products. Always good to see Swedish rail videos. Keep them coming.

[@InFltSvc]

They have a beautiful county , I am a former Flight Attendant and have been around the world but I saw ( now that I am getting older) their is something just organic about train travel and one feels safer and more relaxed. And of course you must have food onboard service and you are set. I wish America had a real rail system like they do over seas …

[@lindamarie6574]

Thank for such wonderful uploads. I very rarely leave home anymore, so I "travel" through awesome people like you. I love trains, I used to ride them in America many years ago and I miss that and I miss traveling. Thank you again!

[@rezaalan3991]

Great trip. That landscape along the route + the cabin feel = perfection.

[@Adawck]

The last coach with the blue seating is called B11 (2 class)/A11 (1 class). Or Blue X. Their layout is authentic to the one in X2000 and the coaches are brightly Blue on the outside. Once there even were Rc6/Rc7 locos with the same blue colour.

[@williammerry4746]

Another fine review. Good train and wonderful scenery. I look forward to these Friday posts and am never diaappointed. Good on you young man

[@timnewman1172]

Beautiful scenery... comparing to N. America, there is a reason many parts of the upper midwest(especially Minnesota!) was settled by Swedes & Norweigians. Thanks for sharing, Thibault!!!

[@scottyerkes1867]

Cool!! Love the black livery! First class is good value for the money. Spectacular scenery!! Thank you Thibault for a wonderful report😀😀♥️♥️And yes winter travel would be even more special

[@peterjohnson1012]

Great video! My most recent (?) trip to Europe was in September through the end pf October 2017. Belgium and the Low Countries then Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Your work really brought back fond memories of that trip. It was all trains except from Denmark to Norway. I really enjoyed and preferred the trains I rode in Scandinavia in the latter part of the trip. I was waiting for you to comment on the Pacific Northwest/Alaskan vibe as I really felt that too in Norway and especially in Sweden. Thanks!

[@osasunaitor]

When I first arrived in Sweden, I remember seeing one of these all-black Intercity trains in Malmö station and thinking "wow, what a gorgeous historical train!". I couldn't believe it when I learnt that they are actually used for everyday services. Also, I love how SJ offers the 3 different services (high-speed, intercity and night train) from Östersund to Stockholm every day, we should really learn from them in Spain where super-expensive-high-speed or nothing-at-all are becoming the only choices in many lines :/

[@olofssonaugust2536]

5:20 the bags are made of recycled plastic :)

[@endless_puns]

Swedish trains (SJ) are awesome! I've done the night train between Åre and Stockholm two times as well as the high-speed between Stockholm and Malmö. They are comfortable and clean and the interior design is unintrusive and simple. There were some delays on the night train but the high-speed between Malmö and Stockholm was very punctual. I've also done a few trips with Snälltåget, which is a fine service, but I definitely like SJ trains much better. Thanks for this cool video - it brought back some memories.

[@zoltronr6]

Took the train from Trondheim to Stockholm a few years ago. Really enjoyed this leg of the journey. I live in Washington state. Sweden reminded me of home.

[@AndersWillebrand]

OMG so happy to see you visit my hometown Östersund!! 🤩

[@crompton33022]

Thank you for sharing your journey with us.

[@RealCrimsonPeach_TSFTWDTFTL]

This train looks pretty nice, too. I would definitely like to visit Sweden one day and maybe ride this train (I live in the USA). Also, when you passed by the family section, I totally agreed with you that it was loud. I have autism, and I absolutely cannot stand the sound of crying babies. Other than that, I enjoyed the video. Anyways, have a nice day, and I look forward to seeing what you upload next.

[@jatterhog]

You’ll be pleased to hear that one can’t book first class with children’s tickets on SJ then :)

[@w.e.b.8719]

I very much look forward to your videos. The content is great, very clean and professional.

[@obarnabas]

I travelled with the same kind of train to Nyköping once. I like the black this livery gives a serious look. And also in Stockholm when you look down to Gamla Stan from Mariaberget and you see those black retro look trains going fast on the Centralbron train bridge between the islands, that looks very northern.

[@turboseize]

Jag gillade den blå färgen bättre.

[@annabackman3028]

​@@turboseize Me too. Blue was better than black. I still can still see the brownish-redish color SJ used before they took the same blue as on the logo. And the RC engines were dark orange with a thin white stripe. Also, is there any Swedish person here who remembers the old sleeping cars from the forties-fifties-sixtys, WL9, WL10, WL11, WL12, WL1,WL2 and WL3? With three beds in each compartment as standard, but the SJ personel "remodeled" them into first class, with a choice of one or two beds? I don't remember if it was in the seventies or eighties the BC1 and BC2 joined the fleet, BC4 must have been in the nineties. Compartments with six narrow beds. You got a blanket plus a large double sheet, big enough to cover the bed and pillow with, (which actually was a combined pillow and the back of the seat you could turn the bottom and middle beds to) and use as a sleeping bag. Nowadays I the blanket already has a duvet cover on it. I used to work with everything except making the beds a long time ago. Taking out the used bed linen and changing the number of beds after a booking list. Later I was in the team that brought clean linen to the cars and distributed linen to the compartments, filled cabinets with clean linen to be used on the return journey and bringing the dirty linen, packed in huge sacks, back to the laundry department. At that time SJ had only one, but large, laundry, hence the linen for the return journey. Both jobs were heavy and sweaty, and a lot of dust swirled around in the air from the shaking of blankets and all else work done in the compartments. In the mid-late nineties I tested the brake system on the full set of cars before the engine came, then connected the engine to the train set. Nice job in the summer, but could be tough during winters, snow and ice sometimes covered the whole coupling, big and heavy iron coupling device, and the air hose for the brake system. Hammer and a small gas engine boiling water into steam, and with a hose spray the ice with steam until it melted. No, winters weren't exactly funny 😂, but I can laugh about now, as a lot of time has passed by.

[@NokiTravels]

I love how you breakdown the carbon emissions of each mode of transport and the time it takes for each, that’s super important to have

[@eieio1943]

Beautiful ride. Thanks for taking us along. Nice video

[@Bobrogers99]

The train was clean and comfortable with decent food available, and at a reasonable price. Their money was better spent on these things rather than on the glitz and glamour you see on some other rail lines. Just being new and modern doesn't always make it better.

[@tranmere292]

That's my first trip on a Swedish train - a great experience. You mention the X2000. A couple of cars and a loco were brought here to New South Wales, Australia, many years ago when the government was looking for new long-distance trains. I don't know why but they didn't stay and we ended up with an Australian version of the British HST.

[@sirgermanm78]

Wonderful views, confy traín. Thanks!

[@ArchmageIlmryn]

Pedantic note about Swedish - Swedish has word endings (-en, -et, sometimes just -n and -t) instead of definite articles, so "The Storsjön" is redundant (it would be "The the Great Lake"), it should either be "The Storsjö" or just "Storsjön" without any article

[@ArunTripsNTalks]

The moving red bullet while walking is a unique idea for train vlogs..good one

[@shankarpoti1985]

Thank you for posting. Starting with the quaint station, right down to the locomotive, the train is very alluring. On my bucket list next time I am in Sweden - hoping for international travel to normalize post COVID. Such an interesting trip[.

[@ecoRfan]

As a rail buff from New Jersey, US, all I can see when I see the RC-6 locomotive is the basis for the ALP-44. It brings back memories.

[@Lars1946]

The car you were riding in was an A7. A = first lass, B = second class. The combined bistro and family car was an RB7.

[@olofssonaugust2536]

Great video!

[@emilkarpo]

Nice report. Winter is never when railways anywhere the climate is cold look their best. My bet is this equipment look pretty sharp in warmer weather. Swedish loco hauled equipment, especially the overnight sleepers look like someone sent Sven and Ollie down to the DYI with a limited budget to get the materials. Lots of repurposed stuff and fittings, almost a caravan (RV) level of fitting out. Nice but just nice enough in a country that's really very auto oriented.

[@samtrak1204]

Love the autumn leaves. I rode X2000 from Stockholm to Copenhagen in October, 2012.

[@NerdX151]

I remember how uncomfortable those carriages were when they entered service. The interior was pretty identitcal to a city-bus with hard-rock seats that barely had any legroom. The comfort has improved a little after refurbishment, but they still don't hold a candle to the 60's carriages that are still used by some private operators.

[@jatterhog]

Håller med att 60-talarna är överlägsna, men tror alla kan hålla med om att Blue-X vagnarna ändå var bekväma.

[@amtrakharry]

Excellent video!!!

[@duanestanton3738]

Interesting train system, well maintain and great design…thanks for sharing!

[@ymvrr]

Enjoyed this train trip! In the US, tree trunks are referred to as logs, and I also enjoyed the logging operation scene!

[@TaronTT]

In British English they also use the word logs for cut down trees, but don't forget these guys are French and their English isn't perfect ;)

[@LexTheTrainFan315]

Great video and content!

[@erike7368]

Nice to see you in Sweden again! I think I actually took that train during my trip from Umeå to Sandnes just south of Stavanger in Norway. The plan was to take the bus from Umeå to Östersund, then the night train to Hallsberg and then a SJ Intercity to Oslo. Followed by a Vy Intercity to Sandnes The night train from Östersund was canceled due to a fault with the overhead line so I had to get new tickets for most of my trip. SJ was very helpful and paid for a hotel and tickets to Hallsberg via Stockholm the next day (the train you take in this video was of course a part of the trip) Anyway, there was no suitable SJ Intercity from Hallsberg to Oslo, so I ended up staying on the high speed train and kept going to Karlstad where I took a bus to Oslo. For the last leg of the trip to Sandnes I had no choice but to take a night train and kind of miss out on the beautiful Norwegian scenery This whole trip was back in June 2019

[@_mynewcareer]

Love the RC6 reminds me of NJ transit alp44 which are now all retired

[@michaelmacdonell4834]

Ostersund Station - built in 1879, rebuilt continually thereafter. A sort of Railway version of Trigger's Broom.

[@manmeetsinghmahajan6183]

Amazing Trip.

[@mansnylind-alevelcrossings6033]

Lovely to see you seizing the opportunity to make a trip with a loco-hauled SJ train! They’re (except for overnight services) likely to be gone by the next turn of decade since SJ have ordered new EMU:s from Alstom and CAF to replace them

[@Rodoeht12345]

We'll see about that deal with CAF, though. The other manufacturers bidding on that contract has objected the deal so the final word in who gets it isn't written in stone yet

[@mansnylind-alevelcrossings6033]

@@Rodoeht12345 ok, then I hope another manufacturer wins, CAF doesn’t have the best rumour

[@sidrad]

The view along the lake reminds me a lot of Amtrak or the Metro North along the Hudson.

[@nian60]

Storsjön has a legend about a monster, similar to the Loch Ness Monster. 🙂

[@samtrak1204]

I, too, prefer dashing through winter's snow in my stainless steel cozy cocoon.

[@markoobid2005]

You forgot to mention that Balkan is full of license-built ASEA Rc locomotives, little altered to use 25 kV 50 Hz electricity. Končar in Zagreb (now Croatia) built a very high number of them for whole Yugoslavia (except Slovenia) & some for Romania. Also the Electroputere six-axle electric locomotives, built in Craiova for Romania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, are based on Rc design.

[@gustavsturksteinwall4027]

2:15 Well, not all of them. SJ does have a few B7 coaches, but they also have A7, AB7, A11, B10, B11 and a bunch more. The tricky part is that they all look the same from the outside so you can't really tell the difference between them at a glance.

[@Kolej100Filmy]

Very nice sweden train 🙂

[@johnmehaffey9953]

The last carriage seats were just like the old Citroen DS car seats and if they were just as comfortable then they would be nice to sit in

[@schalitz1]

Hope to get to Northern Scandinavia someday. As someone who grew up im the Northeast US your right, it has a very similar look to New England, Upstate NY, and Northern Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Edit: And of course how could I forget Alaska? One of my favorite states. Thanks for the reminder.

[@lukmanbucin3154]

Indonesia hadir 🙏🏻👍

[@robyoungquist5803]

The black livery is rare to be sure. I usually ride the XJ2000 in First Class between Gothenburg and Stockholm. Of course the scenery is much more pleasant in Spring/Summer. Just F.Y.I. Thibault, when my Grandparents and most Swedes immigrated to America the reason they chose Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and the Seattle, Washington area is because the lakes, cabins, lakes, forests, cold winters reminded them of their homeland of Sweden. 🇸🇪. P.S. the “jam” you had with your meal may have been lingonberries … which we almost always have with köttbullar (meatballs). I also like it with pannkakor (Swedish pancakes). 😋

[@ГалинаВячеславовна-р7о]

А зачем шведы иммигрировали в Америку? Разве там когда-то было лучше чем в Швеции?

[@trainenthusiast7695]

Those meatballs are some of the tastiest microwaved food I've ever come across. After a long day of travel they are a perfect way to satisfy your hunger 🙂

[@utahrailfan1946]

Next week might be the Winter Park Express from Denver, Colorado!

[@Andrewjg_89]

I would love to travel on the trains in Sweden. And to see the atmosphere and wilderness it has. 😍

[@user-gp8lc9sh3j]

The nature looks exactly the same as in Finland.

[@samtrak1204]

AEM-7 top speed was 125 mph. Engineers loved it more than any other electric motor before or after.

[@mr.conductorfromsts4204]

The RC-6 was the Original Base before the ALP-44 of NJ Transit (x32: 1989, 1993, 1996) and SEPTA (x1: 1996) was built

[@gustavsturksteinwall4027]

The funny thing about Norrtåg is that they, despite being operated by the Swedish branch of the Norweigan state railways, don't go to Norway. This is because they are owned by the local counties of Northern Sweden and are merely operated by Vy Tåg.

[@bwcbiz]

Limited service, ~100 km/h, old refurbished coaches, super-comfy seats with good legroom. One would almost think it's Amtrak. i imagine they both have a similar budget (relative to size) from the government.

[@deepwoodguy2]

Beautiful country scenes flying by....and Toilet Time Tour, a must.. and mirror time also, so we can see to is doing all the "hard work"...😎 Is the snow plow on the front of the train, there all year round, or just put on towards the winter months?? thanks...

[@YaoboyProd2K15]

Small, boxy and high-horsepower electric power! American railfans see Rc6 as a familiar figure, as they had ALP-44s and AEM-7s before.

[@JuliusZZ]

You should really try out the x3000 and the new x2000. That would be fun to see =D

[@pgchase4578043026]

All of that wood being unloaded from the trucks goes out via rail, (lots over in Norway, too). I noticed your eating utensils were wooden.

[@the_vehicle_spotter]

Jätte bra 👍

[@guillaumedarbin2433]

Now that's cool

[@tylerdowd]

cool vid

[@Archiemonty]

6:59 Nice.. Simple Railway, now IMAGE that as a sunset..

[@Abnerbandanovotempoinscrito1mi]

Lindo trem simply simply gostei

[@nationwyde1]

Nice!👍🏽

[@magnuskongskov3532]

In dont understand the Black Livery. There is hopefully some serious air condition for the summer, or else it gets really hot. (It look cool though)

[@Giffellover89]

Vy trains are actually a sweadish owned company operating trains in both Sweden and Norway

[@jamesrivis620]

'Tree trunks' are called 'logs' in English.

[@kernthorpe864]

The seats in that last carriage look like the front seats from my old Saab 9000. Maybe they got a good deal from a scrap yard!

[@johnwettengel1133]

Could you review Sweden's nortag service? I've heard about it but can barely find anything online.

[@RKMa64]

I would take the old ones over the X40 anyday😎 Traveled to Avesta

[@gatorjay7972]

Same lunch I get at my nearby IKEA!.

[@julesverneinoz]

Thanks for this, I wanted to take Stockholm-Gävle train in December to see the goat and SJ website wanted me to choose 1st class or 2nd class? I was like, "What's the diff?" You answered it all 👍👍

[@ozgirl45]

It’s nice to see a northern country when it isn’t winter (it’s snowing here today so I’m biased I guess) although it probably is spectacular in the snow. The train is impressive - simple livery and decor but comfortable and efficient. What else is needed? (I was expecting to see the airport but I googled it instead and it is impressive.)

[@samtrak1204]

The black cars and windows look dusty. Were they?

[@mansnylind-alevelcrossings6033]

They were, i've rode these coaches a lot

[@justingoina2016]

Hello, if you get back to the U.S could you review the south shore line? it's the very last interurban in the U.S and they're taking off the street portion to I would appreciate it!

[@thefareplayer2254]

Sweden looks a lot like the hilly areas of inland northern New England!

[@RedArrow73]

America's current crop of electric motors (what PRR crews called their GG1's) come from Siemens.

[@footpro9912]

Hhh from shneider

[@reinhardgocht8508]

hey , when testing the seats, I am interestet in which way the backrest moves backwards? At the expense of the rear seat neighbor or in the socket? Does the seat go up or forward or both? Thanks.

[@hainam8614]

Dude yes :D

[@henrikwessels3843]

Would you recommend to do this journey at day or at night (by sleeper train)?

[@marcocapelle]

I was here just a month earlier (sept'21), went to Sweden for vacation because travelling is maskless. It is a beautiful country indeed.

[@cherylsemrau4375]

I would love to go on this train. Have you been to Canada?

[@apersunthathasaridiculousl1890]

10:30 oh my….

[@jamesrivis620]

You should warn of flickering light.

[@herambabhyankar2513]

6:36 Lol you forgot about punctuality

[@nian60]

Grön ko = Green cow. 🐮

[@novatv5508]

10:32 swedish babies are velociraptors alright

[@PaulCashman]

1,000th "like" -- I feel like that's an honor.

[@bakarkaka22]

How is it 4.5 kg of CO2 on the train?

[@CreatorPolar]

Well the electric wires need to have electricity so it’s probably power plant emissions

[@bakarkaka22]

@@CreatorPolar yeah but Sweden has 99% renewable energy and SJ uses 100% renewable energy only

[@AndreiTupolev]

Paintwork on that first coach seems to be peeling off rather

[@Rodoeht12345]

Yeah, they chose a shitty paint quality to save on money, it peels off when they remove graffiti. You can clearly see the old blue livery and rust protection coming through. But it does seem that SJ put the logo and the car information on recently, since they overlap all the paint variations

[@Bananaman-hk6qw]

Do a Dutch trip report pls

[@jonolini176yt3]

Make a train review on Dovrebanen or bergensbanen/flåmsbana IN norway 😏

[@AndreiTupolev]

Meatballs with jam? 🤔

[@Greybone62]

The trains in Sweden does not honk as much as trains in North-America do..

[@gundalfthelost1624]

The honking is only reserved to emergency situations etc. Otherwise it's counted as sound pollution.