Response to interpellation 2023/24:411 on the East Link
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns Ostlänken and railway investments. KD wants investments to primarily facilitate commuting and freight traffic as well as prioritize maintenance and digitalization before high-speed tracks 1. KD argues that the cancellation of new main lines reduced the debt for deferred maintenance 2. KD believes that smart, cost-effective investments must be made to strengthen jobs and growth, and that Ostlänken should be integrated with the Södra stambanan 3 4. KD also argues that significant cuts in the digitalization of the signaling system are system-threatening 4. S considers Ostlänken to be long-awaited and important for people's everyday lives 5. S argues that the planning does not include the exit south from Linköping 6 7. S believes that the southern connection is necessary to avoid bottlenecks 8. S wishes that the main line be expanded and that a specific small white zone is included in the plans 5.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! Eva Lindh has asked me if I intend to take general measures to provide the possibility for a connection from the station site in Linköping south towards the Södra stambanan.
The government wants all of Sweden to function, and investments in the railway should primarily facilitate commuting and freight traffic. The government prioritizes the upgrading of existing railways, better road standards, and expanded charging infrastructure over investments in high-speed trains. The needs are great, and an investment in high-speed railways risks crowding out other necessary investments. The government therefore canceled the work on the costly project regarding high-speed main lines.
Ostlänken is included in the national transport infrastructure plan for the period 2022-2033. With the government's decision to terminate the project Nya stambanor, investigation for remaining stages, that is, the so-called central system parts, the section Linköping-Sjögestad which was included in this project, that is, which was not a part of Ostlänken, is excluded.
According to Trafikverket's supplementary position on the location for Ostlänken in Linköping Municipality, the authority will now, in its continued planning of Ostlänken, in dialogue with among others Linköping Municipality, ensure stable planning conditions for the city's development while at the same time ensuring that any potential future continued expansion of tracks westward from Linköping is not made impossible.
Eva Lindh (S)
Madam Speaker! Ostlänken is Sweden's largest ongoing infrastructure project. This means a new railway between Järna and Linköping. It is naturally incredibly important for Östergötland's development that Ostlänken is built. When we expand the railway, we contribute to shorter travel times, trains that can arrive on time, but also a larger labor market and smoother commuting. It is crowded on the tracks through Östergötland, and Ostlänken is more than long-awaited.
Trafikverket has decided on the station's location in Linköping and also on the routing of Ostlänken into Linköping. But for the section out of Linköping, that is southward, there is no planning. How and where Ostlänken shall connect to the existing main line is to be further investigated.
It may seem very strange that one plans a route through one of our larger cities and leaves the exit from the station completely blank. That is what I think, and many others with me. So, even though one is incredibly grateful that at least the planning for Ostlänken up to Linköping now seems to be in place, there are still quite a few questions.
This has consequences for Linköping given future urban development and construction. It creates problems because investigations show the need for the expansion to, of course, continue beyond Linköping. It complicates commuting within the county. It is, in fact, difficult not only with the work commute between Linköping and Norrköping in this situation. Also from Linköping and down towards Mjölby and further, it is very crowded.
Since the government says that their major priorities are precisely the commuting and the freight traffic, it is strange that there is no further planning for a continuation of this section. As far as I understand, the freight traffic through Östergötland will increase. If one has not planned the pulling out from Linköping, then the delays to strengthen the Södra stambanan should entail consequences.
In light of how this actually affects the exit from Linköping to the south - the commuting, the freight traffic, and all other rail traffic - I wonder if it is not possible to still add the kilometers in question, so that the traffic out of Linköping is connected. This is what I have asked Infrastructure Minister Andreas Carlson about.
Mattias Ottosson (S)
Madam Speaker! Ostlänken is a project that has actually followed me throughout my entire political life. I remember when, as a newly appointed chairman of the municipal board in Norrköping, I attended my first Ostlänks meeting in 2001. Now, 23 years later, I am still working a lot with Ostlänken in the transport committee. It is a project that takes time and will take time. And I hope that I am at least alive when we can travel on it. My political career may have stalled by then.
New trunk lines are something that is important. I have heard the Minister speak a number of times about how maintenance is important, and I agree that maintenance is important. But I feel that the government overlooks one thing, and that is that rail travel in Sweden has increased very much. Therefore, I believe that one must add new capacity such as Ostlänken is. I also believe that it is a project that has great political support. I will not answer for the Sverigedemokraterna, but the other political parties stand behind it. The business community and the business community's various organizations are very positive. There is a popular support for the project. We also see how many municipalities along the line are investing billions of kronor so that this project will reach completion. There is, therefore, a great societal support for it.
Then I always become a bit thoughtful when the government handles this. We remember that a decision was made to look at the costs for Ostlänken and look at it again. In the same period, they also looked at the projects concerning Lund-Hässleholm and Borås-Göteborg. These are also projects that actually should have been included in this main line project. Now they have looked at this, and Lund and Borås are back. Ostlänken shall also continue, but there is a white spot when it comes to the actual exit from Linköping. I believe that the only thing this has entailed is that it has become more expensive and that it has been delayed. This is what becomes the result.
We need to think a bit about this with Linköping, because I assume it is not the government's intention that there should be some kind of bottleneck on the tracks there. Now they are scaling down the project from eight to six tracks. Just that is crazy because the capacity exists, and Linköping Municipality will be making very large investments together with the state.
The Minister for Infrastructure is probably answerable regarding how we should proceed to get out of here. Trafikverket has received a clear message, but I believe we must find some kind of solution. I don't think, after all, that the idea is that it should just come to a halt. Even if we have different views on main lines, one must find a connection on the existing main line so that it is possible to continue south, right?
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! I thank you for the interpellation and the commitment to this issue.
Let us begin with Ostlänken! We chose, as the members know, to cancel the planning for new main lines for high-speed trains. Mattias Ottosson was pointing out that Ostlänken is a project that existed even before the idea of and the plans for the main lines for high-speed trains came, as an investment that would promote work commuting and freight traffic. It is also the government's prioritization when it comes to railway investments. Therefore, the work has continued regarding Ostlänken.
Regarding the other parts that were already in the plan - Lund-Hässleholm and Göteborg-Borås - Trafikverket was tasked to see what needs to be done and what measures can be taken so that they can be built in a perhaps more cost-effective way, which provides more infrastructure for the money. Especially in Skåne, which is further ahead in the planning, it was possible to do quite a lot, for example, to make room for the land connection to the Öresund Bridge, which was not included in the previous national plan within the current planning period.
Ostlänken is further along in the planning. It is an already ongoing project. Some parts have been completed and others have been negotiated or are almost ready to be negotiated. The municipal planning along the route has to a large extent been adapted so that the project can be carried out, just as the members are aware of.
When it comes to maintenance, as Mattias Ottosson mentions, the railway maintenance debt is a full 91 billion kronor. The road maintenance debt is 35 billion kronor. The National Audit Office notes that the debt in upcoming plans was reduced by 163 billion kronor with the decision to discontinue the planning of main lines for high-speed trains. It is therefore obvious that if one had continued with that planning, it would have been even more difficult in the future to plan to recover deferred maintenance.
An important part is to increase the capacity of the Swedish railway by digitalizing the signaling system. There is ERTMS which is being partially rolled out, but the previous government chose precisely at the end to halve the pot for this in the national plan, which, according to Trafikverket, entails risks that are purely system-threatening. The National Audit Office also criticized this very strongly.
The introduction of ERTMS is a measure that can increase the capacity of existing facilities by allowing traffic to be managed in a better, smarter and more efficient way - and also safer, given the possibilities offered by a digitized signaling system.
When it comes to the station location and further planning from Ostlänken in Linköping and beyond, I want to draw the members' attention to the fact that the work of preparing railway plans for Ostlänken is a long process. It takes several years. Trafikverket's work to prepare the railway plan for Ostlänken is ongoing. The authority will prepare a new, separate railway plan for the new station in Tannefors. In both railway plans, it will be possible for all affected parties to submit comments. This is a task that Trafikverket carries out. They and the physical planning are governed by the Act on the Construction of Railways, which the members are well aware of.
Eva Lindh (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you to Infrastructure Minister Andreas Carlson for answers to many other questions which are very interesting and which are naturally important when it comes to railways and so on! But what I cannot understand, and which this question also concerns, is something else. It has nothing to do with how we have positioned ourselves regarding the need for high-speed railways and such. When the government saw that the planning showed that Ostlänken would only go into the center of Linköping - regardless of what happened with the high-speed railways and so on, for that is not the question for this debate - why did they then not add that it should not only go into Linköping but also out of Linköping? I actually do not understand that.
Trafikverket naturally does what the government assigns them to do. The government's assignment applied up to the station location in Linköping. Therefore, I ask again how it is that one did not think about the stretch out of the city, as it seems strange. It is not only strange and creates problems for what has already been highlighted, but also when it comes to urban development and so on.
I respect that discussions should be held with Linköping Municipality. It is very good that a plan is to be developed for how it should be in the future. But if this had been included, it would naturally have meant a great difference for the urban development in Linköping, for example. One thing is that it is affected.
The second thing is that it postpones the entire work regarding commuting and labor market expansion, precisely because perhaps the biggest bottleneck exists between Linköping and Norrköping, but also between Linköping and Mjölby. At some point, therefore, something must be done about the southern main line. We can agree on that, can't we? At some point, it also must be built, renovated, and managed, and if one has not built out from the station site in Linköping at least to connect, it will affect the work when it is finally to be done.
The third point, besides commuting and urban development, is freight traffic. It will become more important with everything that is planned ahead. It will also affect freight traffic that this is not connected when it increases.
I know that many with me love trains, for many reasons. Trains are fantastic to travel and get around with and, of course, for the climate. This is therefore truly longed for by many, not just those of us who often commute between Linköping and Stockholm, but because it makes traveling incredibly much easier. Therefore, it is so incomprehensible that just this expansion is not included in the plan and the mandate to Trafikverket already now. I still hope that the Minister can give me an answer on this.
Mattias Ottosson (S)
Madam Speaker! I feel that we are not quite getting answers from the Minister regarding the southern connection in Linköping. I think it is important. It can be important for several reasons. I am myself a supporter of new main lines because the capacity needs to increase. I have understood that the government is not as fascinated by it, but I believe that process will still continue because civil society thinks it is wise.
I met with representatives from Region Jönköping this week who themselves work with projects to keep this alive. It is something that is actually ongoing along the entire stretch so that the business community and civil society at large understand that the capacity on the railway needs to be increased. We have made, and are making, quite a lot of investments in the railway. It is important that it connects, and in that regard, I think the Linköping southern connection is important.
The Minister touched upon the issue of freight. I think it is important to find smart solutions for it. Right now, a new double-track railway is being built and invested in from Hallsberg and Motala down to the southern main line, primarily to facilitate freight. It could be that the freight is to continue to Norrköping's port. It is a container port that is growing quite strongly. Containers and railways fit very well together. Investment has been made in a new, electrified railway down to the port. But we will get a bottleneck in Linköping if the southern entrance does not work. It will be a waste of time and money not to build it.
Even though we disagree on how we view trunk lines, it is important to get the connection to the ports and to get freight flowing. That is all that is needed! I believe the government can do a lot and help with that.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! Eva Lindh says that I answered many other questions. I apologize, Madam Speaker. The members may possibly have to blame themselves a little. There were several questions that were asked, and I tried to answer them. I will return to the question that Eva Lindh repeated in connection with the Södra stambanan.
Trafikverket stated in its report in June 2023 that with the new planning conditions, they see that the design should be adjusted so that a more integrated system is achieved. This means that the new tracks for Ostlänken should be more clearly connected with Södra stambanan to achieve better utilization of both tracks and provide better conditions for regional traffic. They made a supplementary position in October 2023. Just as I was touching upon, first, they proceed with completing the planning of the Linköping-Sjögestad section. Secondly, in dialogue with Linköping Municipality, they have identified that they need to ensure stable planning conditions for the city's development and simultaneously enable a future continued expansion of tracks westward from Linköping. Thirdly, they shall increase the degree of integration between Ostlänken and Södra stambanan by designing the stations in Linköping and Norrköping as integrated station solutions. Alternative solutions and designs to best meet the new direction will be investigated and consulted in accordance with statutory planning processes. It is within the planning process that the final solutions are shaped and decided, they write.
Trafikverket has this assignment. Work is carried out according to the legislation and the statutory planning processes that exist. We will have great reason to return within the framework of the revision of the national plan.
I want to raise some of the other issues that have been brought up. Increasing capacity can mean building new tracks, but also that one utilizes the capacity in the facility we have in a better and more efficient way. It is a great mystery to me that one could halve the investment in ERTMS and digitalization of the signaling system. This is important for the system's functionality as a whole. According to Trafikverket, making those types of drastic cuts is directly threatening to the system. With this expanded, one could utilize the existing facility better and increase the capacity within the existing railway.
Maintenance is also very important. We need to maintain the railway we have and use the type of smart solutions that Mattias Ottosson is pursuing, for example, connections to ports. That is precisely the background to one of the news items in the government's decision regarding the orientation basis: that shipping and aviation should be included from the very beginning when preparing the orientation basis. I mean that there is great potential to achieve a much better functioning and more efficient transport system that is also sustainable, robust, and reliable if one ensures that the different modes of transport are synced better than what has been done previously. That is why the government decided that shipping and aviation should be placed on the drawing board together with road and rail from the beginning when preparing the orientation basis. I believe we will have great reason to return to this.
Now I have answered, Madam Speaker, some additional questions. But I hope that Eva Lindh feels reassured by the account of Trafikverket's reporting of its work, which is carried out in accordance with the legislation we have in Sweden.
Eva Lindh (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister very much for the conversation – those were the words I believe the Minister himself used, and perhaps that is more how it should be seen.
I have already said most of what I am going to say now and will repeat myself, but Ostlänken is enormously anticipated. Mattias described it before. I too have been a local politician, in Linköping, and I have worked with this issue for a long time. It really means a lot for people's everyday lives when it comes to commuting to work and all the other things. But it is also about how all of Östergötland can develop. That is why infrastructure projects are so incredibly important, and that is why so many of us engage so much in them. They mean something for everyday life and for development. That was why I wanted to ask this question about this little white zone and bring it up, so that it is not forgotten.
Since then, it is the case that we want more. That is how it is. We need to expand the main line and expand the possibilities for train capacity. But in this situation, it would be very good if even this small white spot is clearly included - not later but now, because it is incredibly important. I hope that it is not forgotten. With that, I thank you very much for me in this conversation.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! I truly appreciate the conversation and the discussion. This is an important issue. It is not just that the Öresund Link is prioritized by the government. There is a great consensus on this.
I thank you for the contributions and hope that I have been able to provide answers, partly also to other questions that have been raised. These are connected. Just as Eva Lindh pointed out in her concluding remarks, there are more requests; there are great needs in large parts of the country. That is why it is so important that we jointly and focused address the problems that exist, step by step reclaiming neglected maintenance and step by step making the investments that are needed in as smart and cost-effective a way as possible to facilitate freight traffic and commuting, so that we can strengthen jobs and growth throughout the country. All of Sweden must function. One must be able to rely on the train arriving on time and that one can go and visit loved ones or get to work in different parts of the country regardless of where one lives.
I appreciate the dialogue we have had today regarding precisely Ostlänken and the situation that the members have noted in Linköping.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.