Response to interpellation 2024/25:416 on Tvärförbindelse Södertörn
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerned the Södertörn Cross-connection and its financing as well as the need for the project. S argues that the cross-connection is a natural link for the region's development, increases traffic safety, and is crucial for freight transport 1. S considers the project a prerequisite for future housing and the business sector 2, and that the government is failing the region by pausing the start of construction despite clear planning 3. S argues that the state must take its responsibility since the project is fully funded in the national plan 4 5 6 7. KD argues that the government must prioritize cost control because the project has increased by 33.5 percent 8 9 10. KD considers that the basis must be reviewed in order to reduce costs 9.
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)
Mr. Speaker! Åsa Westlund has asked me if I intend to work towards the government making decisions on the start of construction for the Södertörn Cross-connection as soon as possible.
Maintenance of roads and railways has for a long time been allocated too few resources, while cost control for new infrastructure projects has been lacking. The government decision on construction starts that Åsa Westlund refers to should be seen against that background. Cost control has been too poor, and a responsible government cannot simply ignore the worrying cost developments in infrastructure projects, which the National Audit Office has also noted. Measures for improved cost control must also be taken.
It is important that projects do not grow in an unjustified way and that efforts are made at all levels to counteract and keep down cost increases. Otherwise, a number of projects will ultimately be pushed out completely. The Government has therefore taken a number of measures to increase cost control.
A clearer process regarding and follow-up of the construction start decisions is an important instrument. Infrastructure planning is ultimately about choosing which measures should be implemented within a limited budget. The construction support process needs to function as intended, that is, as a control station where changed conditions are managed. At the same time, high momentum in Trafikverket's implementation of the national plan for transport infrastructure is important.
In the latest government decision on construction starts, Trafikverket was tasked with producing a renewed basis for several projects. One of the projects that Trafikverket is to report back on is Tvärförbindelse Södertörn. Trafikverket shall present a renewed basis no later than May 19. I have already previously indicated that the government intends to process the matter expeditiously thereafter.
Åsa Westlund (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer!
The development of Tvärförbindelse Södertörn has been discussed and included in various forms of planning for Södertörn south of Stockholm for many decades. The cross-connection is a natural link that is missing for the infrastructure of the entire Stockholm region to function well. Above all, a cross-connection is a prerequisite for the municipalities south of Stockholm to be able to continue to develop in a sustainable way.
The municipalities south of Stockholm take a very large responsibility to ensure that people in the region have somewhere to live. They have done so for a long time. Many residents and many who are to commute to work and community services also demand that the state takes its responsibility for functioning roads.
It took a long time before the state took its responsibility in this case – far too long. But during the last decade, the state, in the form of an S-led government, has finally taken its share of the responsibility to drive the project forward. The municipalities in Södertörn have, under different political leaderships during the same period, worked intensively to ensure that the new road connection receives a solution.
We who live in Södertörn, of course, realize better than most how important the cross-connection is. The roads that today have to take a large part of the extensive and heavy traffic in the absence of Tvärförbindelse Södertörn are not built for it. On road 259, there is therefore one of Stockholm County's most accident-prone stretches. If one travels the road between Nynäshamn and Södertälje, one often has one's heart in one's throat due to the dangerous traffic conditions.
The cross-connection was simply needed to increase traffic safety. But it was also needed to increase the possibilities to transport goods more sustainably, first by sea to Norvik's port in Nynäshamn and then further inland.
The cross-connection was also needed to strengthen the labor market in those parts of Stockholm where unemployment is often higher and to ensure that it becomes easier to live and work in different parts of Södertörn. The proximity "as the crow flies" must be better reflected by a road that has reasonable transport times through this cross-connection.
The Södertörn cross-connection was also needed for Stockholm to be able to grow. The roads that run closer to the city center must be relieved by a proper road, not the patchwork of pieced-together roads that today's road 259 actually is.
Tvärförbindelse Södertörn will make Stockholm's transport system less vulnerable. Today, there is only one major road when you are to pass through Stockholm or travel between the northern and southern parts. It is Essingeleden. But Förbifart Stockholm and Norrortsleden would together with Tvärförbindelse Södertörn form an outer transverse route and thereby create a faster connection between Täby in the north and Haninge in the south. It would also make the system much less vulnerable and significantly reduce the queues in Södra länken.
The government has now, despite the great need to quickly build this transverse connection, postponed the start of construction and tasked Trafikverket with reviewing the project again. Unfortunately, I see no direction of will in the Minister's answer, so my question remains: Will the Minister work actively to ensure that the spade is put into the ground as soon as possible to build Tvärförbindelse Södertörn?
Serkan Köse (S)
Mr. Speaker! I would like to begin by thanking my colleague Åsa Westlund for a very important interpellation.
Mr. Speaker! The Government's decision to pause the start of construction of Tvärförbindelse Södertörn is a betrayal of the entire Stockholm region. This is one of Sweden's most important infrastructure projects.
The transverse connection links the northern and southern parts of Stockholm County, improves the work commute, and strengthens the business sector in our region. But above all, it is absolutely crucial for freight transport to and from Stockholm via Norvik in Nynäshamn, my own home municipality. Norvik is Sweden's most modern port and a key player in future maritime logistics. To stop the start of construction is not just bad politics – it is to brake the development of all of Sweden, but above all, Stockholm's development.
Mr. Speaker! The project that Åsa Westlund described is not new. The discussions began as early as the 1940s. The planning has been ongoing for decades. It has been appealed, reworked, and investigated, and in January 2024, the road plan finally gained legal force. Everything was ready. Municipalities, the region, and the business community had all planned based on the construction starting. But instead of pressing the start button, the government and the Sverigedemokrater chose to press pause. Why? The Minister says that they want a renewed basis.
Mr. Speaker! This is completely incomprehensible. How can a project that has been investigated for over 80 years and despite all preparations being made suddenly need another investigation? Trafikverket has already done its job. There is an implementation agreement. The region has budgeted. The planning is integrated into the development of Södertörn.
A postponement of the start of construction has consequences. The business sector is affected. Stockholms Handelskammare has warned that a lack of infrastructure hampers growth in the southern county. Companies hesitate to establish themselves. Freight transport is affected. Norvik Hamn in Nynäshamn was built with the cross-connection as a prerequisite. If the road is not built, the freight will be forced onto already overloaded roads; Åsa Westlund mentioned county road 225, which runs between Ösmo, Grödinge and Södertälje out to the motorway. The labor market is weakened. If the infrastructure does not keep up, Södertörn cannot get the investments in housing or jobs that are needed.
The Socialdemokraterna in Region Stockholm have long pushed for this project. Already in 2018, they demanded that the state should finance the entire link. When the funding was secured in 2022, it was a major victory. This constitutes a key to developing Stockholm's regional urban centers. Now the government is tearing this up without any concrete alternative.
Mr. Speaker! My question to Minister Andreas Carlson is simple: How does the government intend to ensure that Nynäshamn, Haninge, Huddinge and all of Södertörn are not negatively affected by the fact that the start of construction of Tvärförbindelse Södertörn is postponed indefinitely?
Leif Nysmed (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer. I also thank Åsa Westlund for an important interpellation.
Many of us in the Södertörn municipalities were pleased that the Södertörn Cross-connection would finally be built. The surprise was great when the government announced that the start of construction was being postponed.
Tvärförbindelse Södertörn is absolutely crucial for us to get new cross-routes on Södertörn and to, together with Förbifart Stockholm, link the northern and southern halves of the county. Tvärförbindelse Södertörn facilitates work commuting, for more efficient bus traffic, and for the business sector's conditions to access competence and efficient transport. Traffic safety through Huddinge as well as the accessibility for ambulances to and from Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset in Huddinge would be significantly improved.
Today, truck traffic from Norvik Hamn and Jordbro's industrial area passes through residential areas and past several schools to reach E4 and E20. A large part of the already developed but also the future residential areas presuppose Tvärförbindelse Södertörn. Therefore, the government's decision to postpone the start of construction is very unfortunate for the residents and for future construction. Just like Spårväg Syd, Tvärförbindelse Södertörn is a prerequisite for many thousands of future homes – and that just in Huddinge municipality.
The Södertörn cross-connection is also important for the regional core Flemingsberg. There is today Sweden's eighth largest university campus, one of Europe's leading university hospitals, world-leading research, and a large justice center. It is crucial for Flemingsberg's continued development that the infrastructure is also developed on both rail and road.
Will the Government ensure that the start of construction for Tvärförbindelse Södertörn occurs as soon as possible?
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Mr. Speaker! It is very pleasing to hear three Social Democrats here in the chamber who are so eager for a construction start decision for a road project. When the Social Democrats sat in government together with the Green Party, new roads were a very sensitive issue. I believe that both our parties might have had an easier time reaching an agreement. We remember, for example, how the S-government froze the ongoing construction of Förbifart Stockholm in 2014, which cost the people of Stockholm a delay of at least four months. It became a completely unnecessary shutdown of the work for those who worked on the project.
What I have given a clear message about in today's debate is that high momentum is important. It is a clear direction of will if anything, Åsa Westlund.
I could probably sign off on every single one of the arguments that the members have raised here in the chamber regarding why it is urgent to strengthen the infrastructure in this project. But unfortunately, it is not as Serkan Köse says about the financing being secured. One celebrated a bit too early, because the financing was not secured. The project has increased by 33.5 percent, which means many billions in cost increases, and one needs to look at this once more. It is an important part of the work with cost control. This is a very big difference, Mr. Speaker, compared to how the previous government handled infrastructure investments. The subtitle on the Swedish National Audit Office's report on this read, "Promises more than it can keep."
If I were to say here in the chamber today that "you are right. We move forward. It doesn't matter that this has spiraled into the many-billion-kronor range. It doesn't matter that it has increased by 33.5 percent," the question arises as to which other measures in the national plan are not to be granted construction start. Six measures in this construction start decision must therefore go back to Trafikverket so that the whole can be reviewed again. This is not done because we do not think this is important, but we think it is important to strengthen cost control.
I believe we are in agreement on this, but in upcoming contributions I would like to hear how the members view skyrocketing costs and how we are to succeed in getting more money for infrastructure but also more infrastructure for the money. We have more money in our record-breaking budget.
When we made decisions regarding the start of construction last year, three objects had to go back to Trafikverket for renewed documentation. All projects have since been able to be started and moved forward to the next step. I have no other hope than that it can be so in these cases as well. Right now, it is at a stage where Trafikverket and involved actors must review costs and whether there is a possibility for increased co-financing so that the framework can be reduced and so that the financing that Serkan Köse said was secured is closer to the starting amount than the increase of 33.5 percent.
I understand and have great respect for the fact that this creates questions and raises concern, but I believe that the entire long-term infrastructure planning process benefits from us collectively looking at how we can strengthen cost control while simultaneously maintaining high momentum. In the next round, I hope, Mr. Speaker, that more of the discussion can be about this rather than about the advantages of the individual project. I see no reason to object to those; I agree. There is a consensus. It is often said that we have a consensus on cost control, but how do we ensure that we achieve it in practice as well?
Åsa Westlund (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.
It is still brave to point fingers as the Minister does. It is he who has paused the construction and postponed the start of construction. One can hope that it means it will be started later, but the Minister gives no statement on that. The question remains. Will the government betray the Stockholm region?
There are many people here. Many different companies have made investments. People have settled here and started commuting to work. This has occurred under the premise that the state will also take its responsibility for this road. It is needed – it is completely obvious that it is missing if one lives in our part of Sweden. I hope and believe that the minister means it seriously when he says that he has no objections to the description that the road was needed, for that is truly the case.
What I am concerned about is that the Minister speaks a lot about cost control. But then he also squeezed in, in a breath, another word, namely co-financing. So this is what this Minister is threatening with now: that the municipalities in southern Stockholm shall pay even more even for this project. It would be another betrayal – that precisely these municipalities, which always take their responsibility and build housing for people and which, despite poor communications, have managed to achieve a number of business establishments, are now also to be pressured for more money. I hope, Minister, that this was not the intention, but it was what was said here in the rostrum. I truly hope that the state takes its responsibility.
This can of course also happen at a lower price. Cost control is important, not just during the months ahead but during the entire construction project – we know that. Many governments have experienced the same thing. We hope that we can turn this around together so that projects do not become more expensive along the way. We support all such things, but not if it involves others having to pay. It is still the state that is responsible for this type of infrastructure in our country.
I am a bit concerned that the Minister for Infrastructure expresses it as if the infrastructure portfolio in some way just means that one has to prioritize within the framework. It is actually also about having the strength to argue that we need more construction in this country. We need a better infrastructure. It is better use of money to ensure that this cross-connection comes to fruition than to lower the tax for those who just let money sit idle in our country. It is a better investment for our future, because it will lead to much greater wealth and a much better life, not least for those who live in Södertörn.
I hope that the Minister, when he gets the floor in other contexts, for example at the government meeting, does not only argue for cost control but also for the fact that this cake, which means that we invest in the future, needs to become larger, even in the difficult times we live in. The future and faith in the future do not become any less important just because the present is a bit difficult.
Serkan Köse (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer!
The Minister mentioned cost control. The Minister is welcome to correct me and us if we have misunderstood this. Tvärförbindelse Södertörn is, if I have understood correctly, fully funded within the national infrastructure plan 2022–2023, a plan that the government itself has decided on. The government's own agency, Trafikverket, has gone through all the steps. The road plan has been established, the environmental assessment is complete, and the road plan gained legal force in January 2024.
Then one must ask why the Minister is raising the discussion on cost control. The Minister is welcome to answer that. Is this the problem, or is it the will to press the button that is the great challenge?
Again, Andreas Carlson: The road plan has gained legal force. The municipalities have planned their development based on the assumption that the project will be completed. The business community and the region have invested their hopes in this initiative. Then one must ask the question: Should over 245,000 people living in the three municipalities we are talking about – Haninge, Huddinge, and Nynäshamn – be forced to live in uncertainty while other parts of the region get their infrastructure in place?
This, Mr. Speaker, is not just about a road. It is about jobs. It is about business establishment and climate-smart transport but also about accessibility. The government says that they are following the process, but Södertörn has already been waiting for this for over 80 years. What is needed now is for the government to act, not more investigations.
A few final questions for Minister Andreas Carlson: When does the Minister intend to give the green light for the start of construction for the Södertörn Cross-connection? How much longer will Södertörn be forced to wait for the infrastructure that the rest of the region has already received?
Leif Nysmed (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you for the answer, Minister!
I feel now, as I listen to the Minister, that there is a great risk that the project will be stopped. Are there requirements for co-financing on the table ahead? You can, Andreas Carlson, very gladly clarify that for us in this context, as it has not been revealed previously.
We should not keep throwing things at each other and talking about who stopped what. This path has a history of having been stopped even before. I therefore feel a certain concern about this.
When it comes to cost efficiencies, this is a rather sensitive stretch that passes through several nature conservation areas, which naturally can cause the costs to rise extra much. At the same time, there are important safety aspects regarding the completion of this road. Heavy trucks from Coca-Cola in Jordbro thunder through residential areas and past schools. It is not good in a social construction.
We have a long stretch of road, Glömstavägen, with long queues. I believe there is more traffic on it than in many medium-sized cities in this country. Today it is an emergency route, where buses stop and drop off children on a road without sidewalks or pedestrian crossings. This is a safety issue – it is an incredibly important issue. This is a state road, not Huddinge municipality's. It is important that this is realized.
Speaking of the long history regarding the debt we are talking about, we must get to the point. I truly hope that you, Andreas Carlson, can hereby refute that it is co-financing that is hindering the start.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! What is the challenge, asked Serkan Köse. It concerns a project whose cost exceeds the budget by 33.5 percent. That is where the challenge lies, if we are to afford all our infrastructure investments. I have full respect for the fact that, of course, one pleads for that which is closest, but so do many others in this chamber. Those members are not here today, but I believe we need to have a consensus regarding cost control. The word cost control should not cause alarm.
When I mentioned co-financing, it was as an example of how some of the objects that were returned to Trafikverket for renewed basis last year were handled. Regarding one of those objects, several companies came in and said that they can co-finance it to get it in place. It was not about a general requirement in this discussion. Now Trafikverket has the assignment to report renewed basis by May 19 at the latest.
I note Åsa Westlund's comment that the cake is going to get bigger. It will. We are making a historic investment in the reinforcement of Swedish infrastructure with 1,171 billion kronor. It will not be as it was under the previous plans, that the Transport Administration's management costs burden the project funds. This releases an additional 59 billion kronor, which means our framework is 27 percent in relation to the latest, now current, national plan, for which the previous government was responsible. It is a historically large investment.
More money will come to infrastructure, but it is of the utmost importance that we also get more infrastructure for the money. That is why we, while delivering a record-sized framework, are strengthening the work with cost control.
I asked a question, Madam Speaker, as to whether the members think it is wrong to commission a renewed basis to see what can be done in this and other objects. From where should the money be taken? Which other objects do the members think it is reasonable to de-prioritize?
Those are the kinds of trade-offs that need to be made. It does not mean that Tvärförbindelse Södertörn has been removed from the national plan, and it does not mean that I do not see a need for high momentum. That is why we have said that if Trafikverket comes back before May 19, the government is ready to expeditiously prepare the basis.
So, the ball is now with Trafikverket, but there is also a ball with those members in the chamber who say we should just blow it. Okay, but which other objects does it concern? Have you in the Social Democratic parliamentary group discussed which ones you agree on? It would be interesting to hear.
It is also not the case that the Social Democrats have proposed a larger infrastructure framework, but in the party's follow-up motion in the Riksdag, they have accepted 1,171 billion kronor for the coming twelve years. On the other hand, they have moved a lot of money from road maintenance to railway maintenance, which will not be able to be converted into practice. Several roads in our country will therefore also continue to have a poor standard if the follow-up motion is passed.
Feel free to talk about a bigger cake, Åsa Westlund, but this is what we have delivered. We seem to have a consensus because your own party did not submit any other proposal in this chamber when the infrastructure bill was decided.
Again: Cost control is crucial, but it is also a high momentum. Therefore, we stand ready to make decisions when we receive the underlying data from Trafikverket.
Åsa Westlund (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer! I have submitted the interpellation because I want to emphasize the need to get Tvärförbindelse Södertörn in place. It is needed to achieve better safety for road users and residents along the existing roads and to achieve a better flow of goods, people, and commuters in our region. It is needed for Södertörn and for those who live and work there, but it is also needed for the entire Stockholm region, to reduce our vulnerability and ensure that traffic flows function better.
The road should have been built a long time ago. We have pushed it all the way here, and it was ready for construction to begin. Then the government chose to postpone the start of construction, and today no announcement is being made that the road will be built. It worries me.
Cost control is important. If it is only about that, I can say that I am very much for it and hope that there will be tough cost control even moving forward. But if it is actually about taking the first step in cancelling the construction, it is a big mistake one is making. It would be a great betrayal against all of southern Stockholm, because we really need this connection.
We also need this cross-connection as a region. The entire capital region needs it to achieve more sustainable transport flows, to achieve a safer road environment, and so that we can avoid sending trucks on exhausted roads even though we are located near the capital.
I hope, as I said, that the government will make decisions on the start of construction as soon as possible, and I hope that the Minister uses his final contribution to say that he wishes for nothing more than for the shovel to be put in the ground for Tvärförbindelse Södertörn.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! If it were my wishes that were governing, it would be much easier in this world, even when it comes to the prioritization of infrastructure projects.
I initially said that I like to hear the commitment from three members in the chamber for road projects in general and this project in particular. I have not contradicted a single argument, and now I heard Åsa Westlund say that cost control is important. It is nothing other than what I have said in this debate. I interpret this as a consensus.
I have also said that there is a very important focus on high momentum when it comes to infrastructure projects, but it needs to be balanced by good cost control. In order for our government, regarding the plan we are now presenting, not to receive a National Audit Office report against us with the headline "Promises more than it can keep," as it stated in the headline of a report from the National Audit Office regarding Åsa Westlund's party, it is important to continue with the cost control and request renewed underlying data.
This does not mean that anything is being removed from the plan. On the contrary, the government stands ready to make decisions and handle the matter expeditiously when we receive it back, which is to occur no later than May 19.
I would like to thank you for the interpellation and for a constructive debate where there is consensus on the need for investments in infrastructure and also, as I perceive it, on cost control.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.