As part of their investor engagement sessions, new in 2025, UIC’s Sustainability Director, Lucie Anderton, was delighted to be able to present a Rail Sustainability Index certificate to Jernhusen CEO Biljana Pehrsson. Jernhusen AB, who owns and runs railway stations and other buildings attached to the railway network in Sweden, participated in the annual index for the first time in 2024, uploading their data for the years 2021-2023.
Jernhusen is one of four UIC members in Sweden and is wholly owned by the Swedish government. It is now financed by 100% green bonds and is seeking further investment for ambitious plans to continue to develop Swedish railway real estate assets, including having new depot capability and majorly expanding station capacity, combined with urban development at Stockholm Central. The ongoing expansion and modernisation of northern Europe’s largest depot in Solna and the construction of new station facilities in Gothenburg and Varberg are other examples of how Jernhusen’s commercially financed real estate integrates into the nation’s rail infrastructure.
During the investor session in question, Pehrsson presented her company’s impressive annual performance and the group toured the largest depot in the country, which is servicing rolling stock for the many rail operators in the country including Green Cargo, SJ and VR Sverige.
Biljana Pehrsson concluded by saying, “Sustainability is integral to our operations, from real estate development to management and financing . Clearly, our commitment to sustainability is yielding positive results, and we are thrilled and proud of our strong performance in an international context.”
Jerhusen is committed to transparently reporting its sustainability performance and was pleased to share its index results with its investors, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in which they excelled, as well as those they are targeting for improvement. For example, Jernhusen surpassed the average performance in SDG5: Gender Equality, thanks to its both increasing and already significant proportion of women in the workforce. This includes at management and director level, backed up with its policy and strategy for diversity and inclusion.
The Rail Sustainability Index (RSi) is a rating system and online tool designed for and with the global rail community, demonstrating railway’s contribution to the SDGs. 2024 was the third data collection year, with 36 UIC members participating in this benchmarking exercise. They received their confidential scorecards and individual reports this month.
Ranging from D to A+, the RSi badges can now be downloaded from the tool and used for the members’ communications activities with their staff or stakeholders. The tool dashboard shows how an organisation compares to the average scores, revealing its strengths and areas for growth, thereby supporting it in developing and reviewing its sustainability strategy. Anderton said, “From the outset, we intended for the RSi to help our members in accessing sustainable finance. It gives me great pleasure to be supporting these conversations, and it is exciting to see so many investors keen to invest in green mobility projects like this.”
