Response to interpellation 2023/24:654 on the train - a climate issue
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
KD argues that a well-functioning transport system where different modes of transport complement each other is a prerequisite for Sweden to function 1. KD prioritizes the upgrading of existing railways to facilitate commuting and freight traffic 1 and emphasizes that the maintenance debt must be paid off 1 2. KD considers it necessary to cancel main lines for high-speed trains to prioritize maintenance 2 and that it takes time to reverse decades of deprioritization 3. C argues that there is chaos in the rail traffic due to maintenance debt and a lack of carriages and staff 4. C emphasizes that the train is a fast and sustainable mode of transport 4.
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! Anna Lasses has asked the Minister for Climate and Environment how she and the government view what is described in the interpellation and how she is working within her area to ensure that, in the near future, it will once again be easier for travelers to choose the climate-smart train as a first priority.
The work within the government is distributed in such a way that it is I who shall answer the interpellation.
Initially, I would like to emphasize that a well-functioning, long-term sustainable and reliable transport system where all modes of transport are developed and contribute to the transport policy goals is a prerequisite for the whole of Sweden to function. A starting point for the government's policy is therefore that the different modes of transport shall not be pitted against each other – on the contrary, they complement each other. It is through efficient transport that we achieve increased and functioning intermodality, where it is easy and cost-effective to transport oneself seamlessly in the country.
Anna Lasses describes a situation for some train passengers that is not acceptable. A well-functioning infrastructure is important to ensure a long-term sustainable transport supply for both the citizens and the business community throughout the country. For the government, it is therefore a priority to improve the infrastructure we have, repair where it is needed, and manage the common resources in the best way. The government prioritizes the upgrading of existing railways, and investments in the railway should primarily facilitate for work commuting and freight traffic.
The needs within the Swedish transport infrastructure are great, and maintenance is overdue. For many years, sufficient maintenance of roads and railways has not been carried out, which has contributed to the accumulated need that is now at hand.
That is why the government in August last year tasked Trafikverket with reporting on measures to strengthen the implementation of railway maintenance and the robustness, reliability, and punctuality of railway traffic (LI2023/03037). Trafikverket shall, among other things, account for the measures being taken to strengthen its procurement competence and ability to plan and implement railway maintenance. The assignment was reported on 12 February, and Trafikverket will also submit a couple of follow-up reports in June and October 2024. I will follow Trafikverket's work.
The Government has also begun the work on a new national plan for the planning period 2026-2037 by, in a first step, commissioning Trafikverket to submit a direction basis for a new planning period. This assignment was presented on 15 January and is now being prepared within the Government Offices. The basis will form the foundation for an infrastructure bill with new economic frameworks and direction for a new plan.
Anna Lasses (C)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer!
There is chaos in the train traffic today. Not least among the members of Parliament, who largely commute during the week, there are plenty of testimonies about the somewhat absurd situations that arise. Trains are cancelled at the last second and one is referred to the next train, but then without a seat. Trains are diverted, which extends the travel time. Trains come to a standstill. It is switching errors, lack of double tracks, lack of carriages and lack of staff, and it is bad weather—we have heard it all.
A large part of the problems is due, just as the Minister points out, to the enormous maintenance debt of over 90 billion that we all, from right to left, are responsible for and which this government must now address. That this is underway is good. Background material has been prepared, and now we await the major infrastructure bill with anticipation.
But at the same time, the situation is acute. Climate changes do not wait for any bill. They are happening here and now, and they are happening faster and faster. Here, the train plays a key role because transport is one of the truly great challenges.
The Minister says that one should not pit vehicles against each other. I would still like to problematize this a little bit. Absolutely! The car is completely crucial for everyone who does not live in a large city, and aviation is perfectly excellent for long journeys or on distances where no other alternatives are reasonable. Just as the Minister says, they must complement each other. Therefore, we shall stimulate and reward the technological development that works on making these means of transport as sustainable and efficient as possible.
But that does not deprive the train of its special status. The train is a fast and comparatively very sustainable way to travel and transport, especially in Sweden, where the majority of the railway is electrified and runs on relatively clean energy.
In the interpellation, I mentioned as an example that if I travel from Stockholm to Leksand, the train is 19 times more climate-friendly compared to if I sit alone in a car, and it is 5 times more climate-friendly if I take three colleagues with me. Furthermore, there is a very high demand for the train to work. The population demands it, the business sector demands it, the defense demands it, and the climate demands it.
In that situation, the government interrupts the work on the main lines. In that situation, the government reduces the funds for the enormous maintenance debt with the excuse that Trafikverket still cannot rectify it at that pace. One could then imagine that it is necessary to also rectify Trafikverket rather than reducing the pace of paying off the maintenance.
With this as a background, a number of questions arise. Does the Minister mean it seriously when he says that the train does not need to be highlighted as a climate measure on those stretches where the train should be the most efficient way to travel or transport goods? Is there a plan for how the maintenance debt is to be paid off, and how long does the government intend it to take?
What is the Minister and the government doing in the short term, while waiting for the bill to arrive? Something must happen now, not in two, three, or ten years.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! I want to thank Anna Lasses for her commitment. It is obvious that more needs to be done to secure the railway and strengthen accessibility, reliability, and robustness. Just as I said in the response that I have just read out, the government is doing several different things here. We have been very clear in the decision that formed the basis for Trafikverket's orientation basis that the maintenance debt must now begin to be paid off. We must make up for neglected maintenance. This is something that has been deprioritized for decades, regardless of the governments' political colors. Now it is a matter of taking responsibility so that we will have a better functioning infrastructure on the railway side and the road side moving forward. The maintenance debt on the railway is, just as the member says, over 90 billion kronor. Trafikverket has included this in the assignment. In all scenarios they have presented, regardless of which framework level the Riksdag will ultimately decide on, they have included recovering neglected maintenance. It is a prerequisite and a cornerstone in the continued work with the national plan.
Canceling the work on trunk lines for high-speed trains, the National Audit Office has noted in its review, did not reduce the commitment in future investments by 162 billion kronor. I mean that it was a necessary decision to have the possibility to prioritize, for example, maintenance and other trimming measures and investments that can increase functionality in the short term, so that we more quickly get a railway that can be relied on in Sweden. This is regarding the national plan.
Regarding the assignment we have given to Trafikverket - it is sometimes called the punctuality assignment and is about strengthening robustness and reliability already now - it has been partially reported as I read out. This involves several things. Some of it is about increasing the degree of innovation and learning, using digital tools, and not just getting more money for maintenance but also more maintenance for the money. It is about creating more attractive deals for Trafikverket as a customer and for the suppliers, and developing incentives when it comes to reliability, so that, for example, maintenance that affects time in the tracks should be an important factor when the contracts are written.
All of this was on the table when the Alliance government was in power. At that time, the then Infrastructure Minister and the government commissioned an investigation aimed at increased control of the facility and improved maintenance, so that more could be maintained without affecting, for example, commuting and freight traffic.
That investigation was written off. Not all the measures that formed the basis for the investigation were taken. The government has now picked up several of them. It is about getting more money for maintenance but also more maintenance for the money. We are working on all of this now, and we have tasked Trafikverket to work on it as well while waiting for a new national plan.
I agree that this is important, and it is something that is highly prioritized. What the member highlighted, that there were 750 million kronor that in practice could not be converted into maintenance measures but did more good on the roadside, otherwise they would have burned inside, highlights that there needs to be an even higher and better production of maintenance. It is very important and something that we follow closely.
Anna Lasses (C)
Madam Speaker! I thank you for the answer. It sounds very promising with everything that is underway. One would have wished that the government would appoint a commission for everything that needs to be done.
Even though one should naturally do more with the money one has, it ultimately boils down to the need for more money. I perceive it as that the maintenance debt is to be paid off, but I still have to ask over what period it is intended to be paid off. It is, as said, a question of rather urgent measures.
What urgent measures are taken while waiting for the action plan? For example, there are a number of expired switches, 1,860 pieces, that need to be replaced. It is something that one actually does not need to wait to find out that it needs to be done. Is this something that the government intends for one to remedy now, and will funds be allocated for it?
The same applies to the signal substations, which are a major reason for the delays. What is the government doing to meet the acute problems that Sweden's haulage companies and industry have while waiting for this plan to be launched?
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! I thank the member for the commitment.
I note the request for a preparation to see the measures. The most important thing is that the measures are visible in reality, so that one can trust the train again. That is why we have shifted into high gear, and in the work with the assignment to Trafikverket to produce the orientation basis, we are crystal clear that it is now important to prioritize maintenance. This has also met the expectations in the assignment that Trafikverket has delivered. In the orientation basis, the recovery of overdue maintenance is included in all scenarios.
The member asks over what period the maintenance debt should be paid off. That depends on where the decision will eventually land here in the Riksdag. I cannot anticipate that. The referral period is still ongoing, so the views are being gathered. This week, I have had referral meetings with all regions in the country and with a large part of the actors in the business sector and civil society, who have been asked to provide input on the process and the work moving forward. It is clear that the needs are very large. And everyone agrees with what the member and I are highlighting here in the chamber today, Madam Speaker, namely that maintenance needs to be prioritized.
What the Swedish Transport Administration itself writes in the orientation document is that of the large debt of 92 billion, it is assessed that one can only pay off 12 billion per year with the methods currently used in order to simultaneously keep traffic open for commuting and freight traffic. It is in that light that the assignment the government has given to the Swedish Transport Administration to strengthen the ordering capacity and increase maintenance should be seen. It should not affect time in tracks in the same way as it does today, but instead, one should be able to work with efficient track works. There are good examples of this also in Swedish companies and in other countries in the EU that we closely follow and for which we have given the Swedish Transport Administration the assignment to take inspiration from and actually convert into practice.
What are the consequences here and now? Just as the member points out, the problems exist today, this year. That is why it has been very important for me to request work that is not far off in the future but produces an effect as quickly as possible. Trafikverket points out a few measures in the partial report of the government's assignment, for example, strategic switch changes and spare parts readiness. This is linked, not least, to the large cities in Sweden, because if they get clogged, it affects large parts of the country. It also showed in this assignment how a stop in Borlänge has consequences all the way from Malmö up to the Malmbanan. It is a cohesive system. Therefore, it is important to have an increased operational capacity now. The reliability of the infrastructure needs to increase already in the short term.
Many of the improvement proposals that Trafikverket points out will take time to implement. These are problems that have built up over a long period, so one needs to work with what is important in the long term but also with what can yield an effect already this year and in the short term. Therefore, cooperation within the industry and with the actors is so important. This is very clearly pointed out in the work.
It is not only the infrastructure itself that causes the delays we have seen. Over a ten-year period, the railway companies themselves account for approximately 30 percent of the delays. The proportion of delays due to accidents and incidents has been almost as high, approximately 26 percent, and the infrastructure accounts for 21 percent. We need to work on all these parts so that people can rely on the train in Sweden.
Anna Lasses (C)
Madam Speaker! I say a big thank you for the answer. I now really look forward to there being order and clarity in the rail traffic, sooner rather than later. Another question that is raised is the lack of trained staff, but I assume that is included in the whole package.
As said, the train is crucial for people who commute, for industry, and also for the climate.
Given that the Minister says that there are things we can do already here and now, I hope that we might even already on Monday, when our government bill is presented, see proposals on what could be done in the near term.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! I would like to agree with the thanks. Thank you for the commitment! The member does not need to wait until Monday, as there are already measures that Trafikverket will work on in the assignment that has been partially reported to the government. Trafikverket is now working with high pressure to strengthen punctuality and accessibility, so that people can rely on the railway. The assignments will be partially reported in June and October. In parallel with that, we are now working on developing a direction and will submit a proposition to the Riksdag this autumn regarding precisely the frameworks and the direction moving forward.
One must be humble in acknowledging that this is a problem that has built up over a long period. Therefore, it will not be done in a heartbeat to reverse decades of deprioritization of necessary maintenance. It will take time to reverse and rectify. But it is important now that the politicians pull themselves together and do not postpone necessary maintenance.
That is why I am so pleased with the commitment that the member and many others in the Swedish Riksdag show, Madam Speaker. Also the industry, different sectors, the regions – everyone sees that the lack of maintenance leads to the types of consequences that the member has raised in the interpellation. Therefore, it is so important to rectify it, so that one can be able to rely on the railway.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.