On Sunday, the message came that the state railway company's current CEO Monica Lingegård will leave the post she has held since 2020. And on Monday, SJ announced that it will be Jonas Abrahamsson, today CEO of the state-owned airport company Swedavia, who will take over. The change of management will take place on March 1, 2026.
"Has confidence"
It has been creaking for a longer time around Lingegård. Sources within SJ tell TT that the management has wanted to get rid of her, but she has not wanted to.
Kenneth Bengtsson denies this:
- The fact that she is staying until the first of March shows, after all, further confidence.
Last autumn, there were whistleblowers within the organization about her leadership style. The board took investigative measures, according to Kenneth Bengtsson.
The results showed nothing that indicated that anything incorrect had been done, he says.
New trains on the way
His motivation for her now having to move on, is the strategic change that SJ is heading for. And then she is too old (63 this year) to sit for another 5-7 years. The idea that it could be some form of age discrimination he waves away.
We have not talked about age at all, but more about reality.
Regarding the confidence problem that SJ is struggling with, recurring problems with delays and train chaos, the SJ chairman hopes for next year's major launch of a completely new train fleet.
- The investments we are making now in a completely new train fleet, should have been done a long time ago.
He admits that SJ has a long way to go to build confidence, and that it happens from "a very low level". But in a year, SJ's travelers will get to taste a more modern train company with new cars.
Maybe even as good as it is in many countries in Europe, says Kenneth Bengtsson.
