MTR Express allows name following public vote, saying news will bring joy to many – and ‘not just in Sweden’

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A Swedish rail operator has vowed to name one of its trains Trainy McTrainface after a public vote, saying it would bring joy to people disappointed when Britain rejected the name Boaty McBoatface for a polar research ship following a similar poll.

Trainy McTrainface won 49% of the votes in the naming competition, conducted online by train operator MTR Express and Swedish newspaper Metro, beating choices such as Hakan, Miriam and Poseidon.

“[This is] news that will be received with joy by many, not just in Sweden,” MTR wrote in a statement.

The train will run between the Swedish capital Stockholm and Gothenburg, the country’s second-biggest city.

Last year, the British government said a new £200m polar research ship would be named after veteran BBC naturalist David Attenborough even though the name “Boaty McBoatface” had topped an online poll.

The instigator of the Boaty name later apologised for his suggestion, which won more than 124,000 votes.

As a consolatory gesture, the research ship’s remotely operated undersea vehicle, designed to collect samples from the deep waters of the Arctic and Antarctic, will be named Boaty McBoatface, the government said.

MTR said another train had been voted to be named “Glenn”, an apparent tribute to an IFK Gothenburg soccer team of the 1980s that featured four players of that name – uncommon in Sweden – including Glenn Hysen, who later captained Liverpool.