Major disruptions to Stockholm commuter trains
There are significant problems with Stockholm's commuter train services early Thursday morning.
A track fault is causing extensive delays; as a result, trains are not stopping at several key hubs, according to public transport authority SL.
The issue occurred between the commuter train stations of Sundbyberg and Stockholm Odenplan, SL states on its website.
Services on Line 43 have been diverted to Stockholm Central Station, meaning trains will not pass through Stockholm Odenplan, Stockholm Södra, or Årstaberg.
All trains with Handen as their starting or terminal station have been cancelled.
It is expected that services will return to normal around 5am on Friday morning.
"Initially, we were informed that it was a switch failure, but according to the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket), it is actually a track fault," said Andreas Strömberg, press officer at SL, to Swedish newswire TT. (TT/The Local)
Swedish vocabulary: terminal station – slutstation
New poll shows Social Democrats' position as largest party under threat
In Indikator Opinion's October poll, the Moderate Party is nearly as strong as the Social Democrats – the gap is only 0.7 percentage points – reports public radio broadcaster Sveriges Radio.
The Moderate Party has gained 6.5 percentage points compared to the election result, drawing support from the other "Tidö" parties (the governing coalition partners), as well as from the Centre Party and the Social Democrats.
"I believe this reflects an impatience felt by the voters – an impatience I share. Naturally, I want to see a government in place," said Tobias Baudin, party secretary of the Social Democrats.
The Social Democrats polled at 27 percent – slightly lower than their election result – while the Moderate Party reached 26.3 percent, an increase of 6.5 percentage points since the election.
Polls from other research firms have also recently shown an upward trend for the Moderate Party; however, this October poll from Indikator is the first to show such a narrow margin between the Moderates and the Social Democrats.
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Sveriges Radio reports that Per Oleskog Trygvasson, head of polling at Indikator, identifies several reasons for the Moderates' significant surge.
"On the right, we see success in winning over voters from both the Sweden Democrats and the Christian Democrats; furthermore, many of the tactical votes previously cast for the Liberals are now returning. More importantly, however, they have managed to attract voters from across the bloc divide – gaining ground on all fronts, including from the Centre Party and the Social Democrats," Oleskog Trygvasson told SR.
The combined voter support for the Tidö parties is 3.5 percentage points higher than that of the Left Party, the Social Democrats, the Green Party, and the Centre Party. Yet, because the Liberals fall below the parliamentary threshold at 3.8 percent, the Tidö parties fail to secure a majority of seats, according to the poll. (The Local)
Swedish vocabulary: is under threat – hotas
New announcement from parliamentary speaker expected today
In Sweden's ongoing government-formation process, parliamentary speaker Andreas Norlén is set to provide an update today on next steps, public broadcaster SVT Nyheter has reported.
"There will be either a press release or an invitation to a press briefing later today," press secretary Johanna Holt told SVT.
The mandate to explore the possibilities for forming a government was most recently given to Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist.
On Monday, she announced that the conditions for a centrist government do not exist and handed back her mandate. (The Local/TT)
Swedish vocabulary: announcement – besked
Swedish economy contracted in September
The economic upturn seen during the year's second quarter has lost some momentum, as Sweden's economic growth turned negative in September.
GDP growth for the third quarter settled at a more moderate 0.4 percent compared to the previous quarter, according to Statistics Sweden (SCB).
"The Swedish economy contracted in September, but the quarter as a whole showed growth, driven by strong performance in August," said Neda Shahbazi, an economist at Statistics Sweden, in a press release.
Compared to the third quarter of last year, Sweden's GDP growth was 2.8 percent. (TT/The Local)
Swedish vocabulary: the quarter – kvartalet