Vy 1st tertial 2025: More travellers improved the results

Operating profit for the first quarter is -45 million NOK, an improvement from -166 million NOK in the same period last year.

More People Taking the Train

Vy train operates two traffic agreements for Eastern Norway and the Western traffic package. In December last year, the Gjøvik Line became part of the Eastern Norway 1 contract. In addition, Vy train manages three train contracts in Sweden. The operating profit amounted to 45 million NOK, compared to -38 million NOK in T1 last year.

The number of travellers using passenger trains in Norway increased by 6 percent compared to the same period last year, and punctuality reached 88.5 percent, an improvement of 3.7 percentage points over the corresponding period last year. Operator-dependent punctuality was 98.3 percent.

– It is good to see that more and more people are choosing the train and that punctuality is significantly higher than in the same period last year. At the same time, we must continue working together with other railway operators to ensure that trains become more reliable, says Bakstad.

– Throughout 2024, we have worked intensively to increase the number of carriages available for operation, so that passengers do not experience a lack of carriages and overcrowding on the trains. The situation is now improving, although we still face significant challenges with the oldest trainsets, and the closures at the Sundland workshop mean that we have fewer trainsets available than usual, says Bakstad.

Closures Severely Impact CargoNet

The freight operations have struggled in the first part of the year due to closed railway lines, particularly on the Dovre Line and the Nordland Line.

– Closed lines unfortunately result in little freight transported by rail and low profitability for the entire freight sector. Therefore, we hope for compensation schemes that cover income losses due to lack of access to infrastructure and increased costs resulting from production adjustments. We are now working hard to retain customers and are implementing measures to improve profitability, both on the revenue and cost sides, says Bakstad.

Growth in Bus Operations

Vy Buss performs scheduled services under contracts with county municipalities in Norway and Sweden, as well as commercial routes in both countries. The operating profit for the first tertial is 34 million NOK, compared to -17 million NOK in the same period in 2024.

– We are very pleased with the financial development in the bus operations. We work hard to recruit enough bus drivers. We are particularly happy with the continued high customer satisfaction and strong growth of 3.9 percent in the number of journeys, says Bakstad.

Vy's commercial buses in Sweden (Vy Bus4you) ranked first in the Swedish Quality Index, outperforming all other passenger transportation companies in Sweden for the 13th time. Vy Flygbussarna achieved a strong 4th place in the same survey.

Flytoget is a part of Vy

On March 31st, Flytoget AS became a subsidiary of Vygruppen. Flytoget’s results for April, at -14 million NOK, are therefore included in Vy’s overall tertial results.

– Although Flytoget and Vy will continue as they do today until Flytoget’s routes become part of the regional train services no later than 2028, we have started to get to know each other better and prepare the future trains services, says Bakstad.

Flytoget achieved an impressive 3rd place on the Norwegian Customer Barometer presented in May.

Strong Booking Numbers for the Summer Season

Vy expects further growth in the number of train journeys in Norway, both among commuters and leisure travellers.

– Norway is an attractive holiday destination, and this spring we have seen an increase in bookings for the summer on the Bergen Line. Additionally, we notice growing interest in train journeys to and from the continent, and we are launching summer trains to Malmö in July. We are also evaluating the possibilities for a future train service between Oslo and Copenhagen together with DSB, concludes CEO Gro Bakstad.