Linx (railway company)

Established as a joint venture between the Norwegian State Railways (NSB) and the Swedish state-owned SJ, Linx operated the routes from Oslo, Norway, to Stockholm, Sweden, and from Oslo via Gothenburg, Sweden, to Copenhagen, Denmark.

The main rolling stock were eleven X2 electric multiple units, although it used SJ Rc-hauled trains on the Gothenburg–Oslo service.

Linx was the train operating part of the agreement, while the governments would have to invest in better rail infrastructure to allow higher speeds.

[3] Because Linx was only to operate profitable routes, it was decided that the company not take over the night train service from Oslo to Copenhagen.

NSB stated that they wanted all inter-Scandinavian passenger transport to be operated by the new company, and therefore decided to terminate the night train as of September 2.

Although the night trains were filled during the summer and parts of the winter, there was a low ridership during the rest of the year.

[6] However, it was a lack of engineers that forced NSB to terminate the night train service as of 20 June.

Marketing Director Øyvind Rørslett of Linx stated that "we are concentrating on the day trains.

[11] Linx operated with different prices on the same route, depending on if the ticket was bought in Norway or Sweden.

[12] In July 2003, Linx reduced the number of daily services from Gothenburg to Copenhagen from ten to four.

From 1 September 2003, Norwegian Air Shuttle started services from Gardermoen to Arlanda, and became a more direct competitor to Linx.

[16] On 11 June 2004, NSB and SJ stated that they would discontinue Linx, and would operate the last train on 31 December 2004.

[17] In September, SJ's CEO Jan Forsberg stated that the problems lay with the infrastructure in Norway.

[2] The closing was criticized by two engineers, who stated that the company actually made a profit, but ended up paying 24% of their revenue in ticket commission to SJ and NSB.

In addition, the service cut occurred at the same time as the centennial of the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden.

The trains are standard gauge, have a power output of 3,260 kilowatts (4,370 hp) and a maximum speed of 200 kilometres per hour (120 mph).