Snälltåget was set up in 2006 (first departure January 31, 2007) as Veolia Transport after partial deregulation of the Swedish rail network running ad hoc services.

Regular weekend services began in 2009 (expanding to weekdays in 2010), after the network was fully deregulated, running in direct competition with the state-owned operator SJ.

From June 2021 a modified night train over the Great Belt Fixed Link without ferry was launched, between Stockholm, Copenhagen and Berlin.

[6] In January 2022, a new overnight service from Malmö to Salzburg via Zell am See and other ski resorts in the Austrian Central Eastern Alps along the Salzburg-Tyrol Railway commenced.

[3] In winter, a train runs weekly between Malmö and Innsbruck, via Salzburg and Zell am See, serving multiple stations with connections to Austrian ski resorts.