(cont. from § 5) Infrastructure issues (cont. TU20)

Anne-Li Sjölund (C)

Mr. Speaker! Sweden is one of Europe's most elongated countries. This means great opportunities, but it also means that we must take responsibility so that people can live, work, study, and run businesses throughout the country, regardless of whether the address is Haparanda, Sundsvall, Stockholm, or Malmö.

That is why infrastructure is incredibly important. Infrastructure is not just about roads, airports, ports, and railways, but it is about connecting people with jobs, companies with markets, and rural areas with cities. Ultimately, it is about holding our country together. Centerpartiet wants all of Sweden to function, and for that, the infrastructure must also function.

I live in Västernorrland, in the middle of Sweden, and when it comes to the railway, there is a stretch that more clearly than any other shows what happens when the infrastructure does not keep up. It often starts with a ding – you know that ding on the train. Then comes that friendly voice in the loudspeaker and tells you that unfortunately there is a track fault, point fault, or signal fault.

Thoughts immediately start spinning, because when the train comes to a standstill, it is actually never just about a signal fault. It is about the people on board – about the father who wonders if he will make it to the preschool, about the team on their way to the tournament, about the company waiting for goods, and about the elderly lady who is going to a medical appointment. It is also about the train conductors who meet the passengers' questions and frustration and still do their very best to make the journey work.

When the train stops, it is rarely just the train that comes to a standstill. Then, people's plans, companies' deliveries, and the everyday lives of hundreds of people along the track also stop. I believe that many recognize that feeling across the country – the glance at the clock, the calls one has to make, and the uncertainty regarding when one will actually arrive.

For many people along the Norrland coast, that "ping" has become part of everyday life. The biggest problem is perhaps not the lost minutes, but it is the uncertainty and trust. Infrastructure is, in fact, fundamentally about people being able to rely on that everyday life functions.

Mr. Speaker! Between Gävle and Härnösand lies Sweden's longest bottleneck. It is a 27-mile-long single track where commuters, travelers, and freight traffic are squeezed onto the same rails. It is a bit like having a single bridge to an island: as long as everything works, you don't think about it, but as soon as something happens, there are queues, delays, and frustration. That is exactly how the Ostkustbanan functions today. Therefore, the New Ostkustbanan is about so much more than rails and sleepers. It is about people who are going to work, companies that need to get their goods delivered, and municipalities that want to grow.

Next year, the Ostkustbanan turns 100 years old. When it was built, it was about connecting Sweden. People would be able to travel, work, and build their lives regardless of where in the country they lived. Today, 100 years later, the task is actually the same, but there are more trains, the freight is heavier, and the rails are really, really old. I do not think there is any centenarian who has not needed a little care over the years.

The needs are therefore significantly greater. Still, we are still faced with Sweden's longest bottleneck, which hampers Sweden's development.

It should be said that it is good that the government chose to put back two important parts of the New East Coast Line in the national plan. It shows that the criticism from municipalities, regions, the business community, and people along the Norrland coast has actually made a difference.

At the same time, we need to dare to see the whole. Two stages do not make the bottleneck disappear, and two puzzle pieces do not automatically become a finished puzzle. If Sweden is to hold together, we must tie the country together. It does not work if the connection between northern and southern Sweden is still one of the weakest links in the transport system.

Before the 2022 election, Ulf Kristersson and Ebba Busch stood in Sundsvall and promised that the double track between Gävle and Härnösand would be finished by 2035. It was not a wish or an ambition, it was a promise. This announcement created confidence in the future for companies, regions, and municipalities that saw new opportunities. People gained hope for a railway that functions and that can be relied upon.

Three years later, there is still no coherent plan for how this is to become a reality. It is difficult to build confidence for the future when a timetable is missing and when the end date is moved further away with each passing year. People cannot commute on election promises, and companies cannot invest based on press releases. Therefore, the government needs to present a long-term plan for the entire Nya Ostkustbanan and show how the promise of 2035 can become a reality.

Mr. Speaker! This is not just a regional issue. The new Ostkustbanan creates larger labor markets, strengthens companies' competitiveness, and is a prerequisite for the large green industrial investments emerging in northern Sweden. In today's security policy situation, the issue has also gained an additional dimension. Ostkustbanan is important for Sweden's preparedness, for total defense, for Nato, and for Sweden's role in Europe's transport network. It is no longer just about arriving on time for work or the meeting, but it is also about our ability to transport people, goods, and socially important resources when Sweden needs it most. It is about jobs and growth, about security and preparedness, and ultimately about what kind of Sweden we want to build for the future.

Mr. Speaker! Building the New East Coast Line is not just about laying rails. It is about creating the security that makes people dare to plan their lives and companies dare to invest for the future. Sweden's longest bottleneck does not disappear through promises to build it away. It only disappears when the rails are there, when the trains run on time, and when people and companies can rely on the fact that the country actually holds together. It is time to build away the bottleneck and build faith in the future.

Centerpartiet wants to see a long-term lifting of Sweden's infrastructure. We want to see a cross-bloc responsibility that removes bottlenecks, strengthens competitiveness and connects the entire country. Sweden can do more.

(Applause)

(cont.)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)