STOCKHOLM, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Several train connections in southern and western Sweden are cancelled or delayed, and suspension of train traffic will last at least till Saturday, the Swedish Television SVT reported on Thursday.
Train connections have been suspended because of the warm weather that causes the tracks to bend. In addition, some trains are cancelled or delayed because of fires and electrical failures caused by thunderstorms.
Especially in the region of Gothland, southern Sweden, the train traffic between several cities is cut off.
"This is a safety measure that we take because of the extreme weather. According to the weather forecast, the train traffic should return to normal on Saturday," unit manager Jorgen Borggren from the Transport Administration told SVT.
On Thursday, a third of all Sweden's long-distance train are delayed. According to SVT, the Minister of Infrastructure Tomas Eneroth promises to improve the country's rail network in the future.
"The Swedish rail network is really worn down. We have to make big investments and the biggest railway renovation in modern times. We are now investing over 700 billion SEK (78,1 billion U.S. dollars) in the infrastructure," the minister said to SVT.
Disturbances in the train traffic are expected to last till Saturday, and travellers are advised to contact their train companies for more information. (1 U.S. dollars=8.96 SEK)
