State company proposed to operate Malmbanan

According to the report, a wholly-owned state-owned company would provide the conditions for securing long-term maintenance and investment in the railway, while enabling future Nordic co-ownership with actors from Sweden, Norway and Finland.

The report was commissioned by the regional cooperation of the Bothnian Corridor.

"It is a fact that Sweden risks losing investments if the infrastructure is lacking or of too low a standard. Our task at Sweco is to present realistic ways forward for how the expansion of the Bothnian Corridor can be financed and realized,” says Ann-Louise Lökholm-Klasson, Managing Director of Sweco Sweden.

The report estimates that the development strategies for the rail network in northern and central Sweden require investments totaling SEK 130 billion. To make this possible, the report proposes that EU funding be maximized through increased cooperation between the government, the Swedish Transport Administration, regions, municipalities and interest groups.

The report also notes that the possibilities of obtaining co-financing from NATO are small.

It also states that the business community should not be involved in financing government infrastructure, other than through user fees and taxes. The expansion of the Malmbanan and other railway lines should be financed primarily through increased government appropriations and, secondarily, through government lending. At the same time, EU funding should be maximized, the report says.

For the expansion of Norrbotniabanan (Skellefteå-Luleå) and the Gävle-Sundsvall-Härnösand railway (New East Coast Line), it is proposed that state-owned project companies be used, in the same way as when Botniabnanan was expanded.

The Bothnian Corridor is a joint initiative between seven regions: Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Västernorrland, Jämtland Härjedalen, Dalarna, Gävleborg and Örebro counties, which together cover more than two-thirds of Sweden's surface area. The aim is to improve connections between northern and central Sweden and the rest of Europe, and to link northern Scandinavia through the development of transport infrastructure.

Lennart Håkansson

editor@northswedenbusiness.com