Rail freight between northern Sweden and the Port of Gothenburg reached record levels in 2025, with container volumes on northern rail connections exceeding 72,000 TEU for the year.
The result marks the strongest performance on record for container transport between the port and inland rail terminals across the northern region, reflecting a doubling of volumes over the past five years.
Two terminals in Norrbotten, Sweden’s northernmost region, have been central to this growth.
The terminals in Haparanda and Piteå together handled 13,412 TEU in 2025, a 16% increase on the prior year.
The Piteå terminal, owned by Stenvalls Trä and originally established to serve the company’s own timber transport requirements, has progressively attracted a broader range of industrial users, diversifying its cargo mix beyond the sawn and planed timber products from the company’s four regional sawmills that remain its primary outbound commodity.
Rail has proven particularly valuable during winter months, when ice conditions can restrict vessel access to ports in the northern Baltic Sea, making rail connections to Gothenburg a reliable alternative for exporters in the region.
Johan Ehn, Senior Market Development Manager at the Port of Gothenburg, described the growth as evidence of northern Sweden’s rising importance as a driver of the country’s export economy, noting that the scale of expansion would have seemed unlikely just a few years ago.
On arrival in Gothenburg, containers are transferred directly to the APM Terminals container terminal for loading onto ocean-going vessels. Return trains carry import cargo back to northern Sweden.
A total of 19 container trains operate weekly on these northern routes, forming part of Railport Scandinavia, the Port of Gothenburg’s rail network connecting approximately 30 inland terminals across Sweden.
