During World War II, the railway, after a couple of decades of decline, experienced a real upswing. Alongside the increased military traffic came a new category of travellers: vacationers.

For a long time, the railway was the obvious mode of transport on land. But during the interwar period, road traffic began to compete seriously with the railway.

This was abruptly interrupted by World War II (1939-1945) when the availability of fuel and tires deteriorated significantly. Private use of gasoline was banned, with only the military, police, fire brigade, and ambulance allowed to use the fuel.

Even though the military's needs dominated the railway, it now had to accommodate a greatly increasing passenger and freight traffic. In 1938, two weeks of paid vacation had finally been legislated, and a significant portion of passenger traffic involved touring Swedes.

At the same time, the growing shortage of coal meant that steam locomotives sometimes had to be run on vast quantities of wood and peat. Despite problems such as poor access to building materials, the war accelerated the pace of electrification.

By 1942, the most important lines had been electrified. They covered just under half of the railway network but accounted for 85 percent of railway traffic.

Caption: SJ advertising poster from the 1940s.