The aim of this report is to make an initial survey of disruptions to rail traffic in winter. This survey is used in studying the prospects for submitting a project application to Banverket, the authority responsible for rail traffic in Sweden. The total cost of the effects or consequences that affect rail traffic because of the winter climate can be broken down into several items. First and foremost, there are the direct costs of Banverket for winter maintenance and the direct costs of the train operators. To this must be added the indirect costs incurred by passengers and freight customers. The size of these indirect costs in a socio-economic perspective depends on the extent of the delays and the way the delays are valued in monetary terms by passengers and freight customers. We have scrutinised the approach and the model structure for the road sector that are set out in the Winter Model. This model will soon be used on the national road network to describe the most important socio-economic effects of various strategies and measures in winter road management. With this as the starting point, a first draft for an effect model for the winter management of rail infrastructure has been drawn up. We believe that this effect model will be found valuable for structuring and analysing the impact of winter on the various elements of rail infrastructure.