Too crowded on the Iron Ore Line in the coming years

This is according to a new study commissioned by the Swedish Transport Administration from the engineering consultant Sweco, writes the business newspaper Dagens Industri.

The privately owned steel company H2 Green Steel and the state-owned mining company LKAB have for a long time disputed the possibility of LKAB selling iron ore pellets to H2 Green Steel, which is building a brand new steel plant in Boden.

LKAB has always claimed that the capacity of the ore railway Malmbanan is not sufficient for more ore transports, and therefore does not want to sell ore from its mines in Norrbotten to H2 Green Steel. This has forced H2 Green Steel to sign agreements for deliveries from Canada and Brazil.

The Swedish Transport Administration has now commissioned an investigation and it shows that there is not enough capacity in the coming years, especially during the summer when extensive maintenance work will be carried out on the Ore Line. Switches will be replaced, a new signaling system will be installed, overhead lines will be replaced and meeting places will be extended.

However, these improvements will increase capacity in the second half of the 2020s.

"In the years up to 2028 there will be a lot of work. After 2028 it will be a bit better and the big jobs will be completed by 2030", says Nils Ahlm, strategic planner at Trafikverket Nord to Dagens Industri.

Lennart Håkansson

editor@northswedenbusiness.com