Johan Oscarsson will fully take over his position in August. He is a civil engineer, having pursued his studies at KTH in Stockholm. Furthermore, he holds a technical doctorate in strength theory from Chalmers University. Johan began his career as a researcher in track dynamics before transitioning to a consulting role at a technology firm. Subsequently, he served as the technology manager in the vehicle department at SL and later assumed the position of CEO at Interfleet and several MTR companies, including MTR Tunnelbanan. In 2020, Johan became the CEO of Strukton Rail in the Nordics, Sweden's largest private railway contractor. Notably, he presently serves as the interim chairman of the Association of Swedish Railway Contractors.
Johan comes in an important year for VR Sverige. The company, belonging to the Finnish VR Group, was formed after taking over Arriva Sverige in the spring of 2022. Besides bus traffic, it is mainly based on the passenger rail business. Under the contract with Skånetrafiken, it operates a regional train system within Skåne County (Pågatågen). For Östgötatrafiken it runs local and regional trains from Norkopping to Mjölby, Motala and Tranås (Östgötapendeln). And in the Stockholm area, VR Sverige operates three lines for Aktiebolaget Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL). In December 2023, VR Sverige will take over another big, decade-long contract, the operation of trains in Bergslagen County. It will replace SJ in the Tåg i Bergslagen (TiB) service.
