All rails in Sweden are regularly controlled and finding microcracks in the rails is not unusual. But on four sub-sections south of Stockholm, there are now around 150 cracks in the rails, which SVT was the first to report on.
It's more than usual, says press chief Bengt Olsson at the Swedish Transport Administration.
Not all cracks have occurred since the rails were last controlled, but here it's also about older cracks that haven't been addressed yet.
Until the cracks are repaired, the maximum speed has to be reduced to 70 kilometers per hour. On a single commuter train track, this will cause delays of between six and eleven minutes, according to Bengt Olsson.
During the recurring rail inspections, not only cracks are found, but also rails damaged by defective trains or shifts in the rails in height or sideways.
In the Stockholm area, the wear is unusually heavy.
Almost 40 percent of Sweden's passenger traffic revolves around Stockholm and it has to do with the commuter traffic being very large. A lot happens and then it's a matter of being out and seeing it and addressing it, says Bengt Olsson.
