SJ AB Reviews 

This company is a prime example of a scam. Their prices are so high, they are probably making about 80% profit, and their policies are a trap. If I book a non rebookable ticket and I just want to get on an earlier train that still has space, why can’t they just change it? I’ll tell you why: because they don’t care. They do not at all care about customer service. They are vultures. Never travel with them.

We were tourists having our first day in Sweden and we boarded the wrong train. When we showed the wrong ticket, the train staff were unsympathetic. Instead of being charged for a new ticket for the correct train, we were charged a penalty fare. The policy seems very unkind.

We are currently stuck in between viala and vingaker. At 21.20 pm they said the electricity went out and we started waiting however not only working staff do not explain anything in English but also the company could not come with any solution to pick a whole full train. There are babies, children, elders and they all have been waiting without any proper explanation for 4 hours right now. It is a HUGE shame for this Swedish company making all this passenger waiting in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night! Also there is no toilet and people are suffering from it too. The company must refund heavily for this misery.

I recently took a train from Berlin to Stockholm and hated it.

1. When I booked, the website clearly showed me that only seats are left, nothing else. When I took the train I could not belive that half the beds been empty so I could have easily booked one.

2. I got a seat where I felt squeezed and it was way too hot, so I went to a different department which was almost empty the whole ride through and laid down on 3 seats. But it was so terribly cold that I put on all the clothes that I had in my bag and it was still very cold. I was freezing all night. Dont you make enough money to create a normal pleasant temperature?

3. Train bistro is a joke.

4. They spontaneous changed the department numbers so I got into the train on the wrong end and then I was standing there with all my luggage which I surely didn't want to carry through this long train. Funny enough they informed people by text message about this change. I cant receive text messages. Just send a simple email or make it easy for people to create an account and enable notifications.

5. This travel was pure stress for which I would like to receive money instead of paying around 150€.
By the way I only booked the train since I wanted to take my folding bike with me. Otherwise, taking a after and cheaper flight will be my number 1 option.

I had more comfortable over night train rides in first world countries.

Very disappointing First Class experience on the Stockholm–Umeå train.

I came from Argentina and was really looking forward to this journey because I wanted to enjoy the Swedish landscape. I paid for a First Class ticket and booked a window seat, but the window was blocked by part of the train structure, with a wooden panel in front of it, so I could not see outside at all.

I tried to move to another empty seat with a better view, but I was asked to leave that seat and no alternative solution was offered.

A very disappointing experience, especially because this was a journey I had been looking forward to.

I was looking for negative stars, but I guess 1 star is the lowest..

Twice in a row that I am delayed longer than 2 hours within 1 week. A relative got delayed 4 hours just the day before as well. Can you be less reliable ?
YOU ARE A JOKE!

From delay to delay, I thought Sweden was developed? I guess I was wrong, terrible experience, will choose another way to travel next time.

I'm not one to usually write reviews but this company was horrendous from start to finish.

Booked a train from Gothenburg to Oslo for 2 x adults and 1 x child at a quite expensive price of 2,271 Swedish Krona (1,261 more expensive than the bus). We prefer train travel though so opted for the dearer option through choice.

2 hours before our train was due to leave I received an email saying the train was cancelled and now being replaced by a bus. I emailed this company, I phoned this company and I went to the train station to try and cancel my ticket so I could just buy a bus ticket for well over half the price. The train station just said we would have to get the bus but it wasn't going direct to Oslo, it was now going to stop at Halden first then we would get a train from there to Oslo. This was obviously going to add a lot of time onto an already long journey so I phoned this company to cancel so I could just buy a direct bus ticket to Oslo to save time and money. I got the runaround from this company directing me to other departments for cancellation then eventually when on the phone and doing an online chat at the same time they gave me another number but when I phoned them I was 76th in the queue with our departure time now less than an hour away so I was forced to hang up and go ahead with the journey on the bus but for the price of the train.

We made it to Halden in 2 hours which was fine but then after getting off the bus and awaiting the train we were then informed by the bus driver 10 minutes later that the next train might not be going ahead after all so it was back on the bus to complete the journey up to Oslo.

Rip off of a company. Total waste of time and energy. Avoid. Avoid. Avoid. Just get the bus and don't waste your money on the hope that the train might go ahead and if you're thinking of cancelling then make sure you've got hours to spare to spend on the phone to customer services!

My overnight trip with SJ from Narvik to Stockholm was nothing short of a nightmare.

While the train left Narvik on time, it arrived almost 6 hours late (stretching a 19 hour journey to 25 hours), causing me to miss onward travel and forcing me to pay for a hotel night in Stockholm. SJ has refused to reimburse me for that.

On this trip, I was travelling with a broken leg and crutches. For more than 20 hours into the journey, there was no conductor to be seen at all. I received zero assistance despite my reduced mobility. I was not offered water, help reaching the bistro, or any basic support. When I tried to move through the train on crutches, struggling past luggage and blocked aisles, a conductor rushing by actually told me to "get out of the way".

I had specifically booked a female-only sleeping compartment. The door could not be locked, the air conditioning did not work, and during the night a man repeatedly tried to enter the compartment and climb into a berth, even though the compartment was fully booked. There was no staff anywhere to intervene, and because of my injury I could not go searching for help. This was frightening and completely unacceptable. Selling "female-only" accommodation without the ability to secure it is reckless.

To make matters worse, SJ then refused to reimburse 25 SEK for a bistro snack because no receipt was printed due to their own broken payment terminal, despite clear proof of payment from my bank. During a delay of this length, refreshments should have been provided free of charge anyway.

Customer service dodged every substantive point and eventually closed my case without responding.

This journey showed a complete failure in duty of care, accessibility, and passenger safety. I would strongly advise against booking SJ, especially for overnight travel, women travelling alone, or anyone with reduced mobility.

It is 2:10 AM and I am still in Gävle. I should have been asleep in Östersund hours ago.

I got only 4 hours of sleep last night and counted on getting proper rest tonight. SJ ruined that completely. Once again, a major delay turned a normal journey into a total mess.

The problem is bigger than this single trip. SJ has failed too many times for this to be excused as a one-off. Repeated serious delays destroy trust, especially when passengers are left dealing with the fallout late at night, exhausted, and nowhere near where they are supposed to be.

This is what people pay for: uncertainty, disruption, and another broken journey. A company that cannot deliver reliable transport, and keeps repeating the same failures, deserves heavy criticism.

I will be claiming proper compensation. But compensation does not restore trust, and SJ has lost mine.

Last minute cancellation to my inter-city train. No SJ customer service staff present at the station.
Just taken a day off yeah???

Scumbag organisation.

I hope you go insolvent.

We took the night train from Hamburg to Stockholm 13.2.-14.2. (Train 344). There were some major hurdles on the way, notably a speaker issue that caused the entire sleeping compartments to be woken up for the crossing between Denmark akd Sweden. The staff were very professional, kind and understanding at the face of such a stressful hardship. I'd like to commend all SJ conductors and other staff on handling the equipment failure swiftly and smoothly. Despite the hassle, the journey was really nice and everyone deserves a commendation.

Another day, another cancellation. There is zero communication when things go wrong, and ticket prices keep rising while reliability hits rock bottom. Avoid if you have an appointment

Another day, another cancellation with zero alternative provided. The prices keep rising while the reliability is at an all-time low. If you have an important meeting, do not rely on their schedule; you will be disappointed

They make announcements inside the train in Swedish . This is unacceptable as some people do not understand the language. Not everyone is Swedish . All announcements should be translated into English regardless of where the train is or going ! They only make English announcements at Arlanda airport after that you’re on your own ! Very disappointing as their trains are always late or having some sort of problems with the rails so I’m not sure whether they’re telling me to change trains or what !

Systemic failure: confirmed compensation reversed and then ignored

SJ cancelled my train from Kiruna to Björkliden on 27 December 2025, forcing me to arrange alternative transportation at my own expense (SEK 695).

SJ then sent two directly contradictory compensation decisions:
• one explicitly confirming reimbursement of SEK 695, and
• a subsequent email reducing this to SEK 205, without explanation and in direct conflict with their own written confirmation.

I contacted SJ repeatedly to resolve this, re-submitting the taxi invoices and their own confirmation email.

SJ has not responded at all.

This is not an isolated mistake it is a complete breakdown of accountability. Issuing contradictory decisions, reversing confirmed compensation, and then refusing to engage with the customer demonstrates serious procedural failure.

Passengers should be aware: even written confirmation from SJ appears unreliable, and resolving clear errors may require escalation outside the company.

Based on this experience, SJ’s handling of cancellations and compensation cannot be trusted.

I'm surprised to see so many bad reviews on here and can only think that it's because I'm from the UK where the trains are truly terrible! I've used SJ twice now travelling between Gothenburg and Karlstad and on both occasions (August last year and November this year) the price, service, and cleanliness of the train has been superb. Maybe I've just been lucky or am so used to dirty trains and cancellations in the UK that anything is better but I can only report on my experience.

Our train stopped and got canceled because of reasons we weren’t informed about and now we have to wait for buses which they don’t even know when they will arrive

Late, again...

I used the app to easily book tickets from Stockholm to Uppsala. The train was economical, on time, fast, and clean. I booked return tickets later in the day.

I had an earlier mishap trying to use Rail Ninja to book the trip, so really I appreciated the SJ APP.