THE Swedish government has instructed infrastructure manager Trafikverket to undertake an immediate upgrade of the Ore Line between Lule\u00e5 and Narvik in Norway.<\/p>\n
Trafikverket has been given until March 31 to report back on how it will complete the work. It has been specifically instructed to examine track doubling of \u00a0the Lule\u00e5 – Boden section and will also propose funding options, which could include raising track access charges, according to the government.<\/p>\n
The 500km Ore Line is mainly used to move iron ore from mines in the Kiruna region of Sweden to the ports of Narvik on the Atlantic and Lule\u00e5 on the Baltic. The line has had to close for a total of three months this winter due to two ore train derailments.<\/p>\n
This caused major disruption and financial losses for the mining industry. In February over 60 companies and other bodies, including mining and steel companies, Volvo, Scania, and the local chamber of commerce, petitioned the government for the Ore Line to be upgraded.<\/p>\n
In addition, its strategic importance for moving iron ore and military traffic has gained in importance since Sweden joined Nato on March 7, following Finland, which joined on April 4 2023.<\/p>\n
Nato requires member states maintain and develop their individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack. The current condition of the single-track Ore Line, now 122 years old, has raised questions over Sweden\u2019s ability to fulfil this obligation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe importance of transport from west to east will increase quite considerably,\u201d Mr Thomas Ekstr\u00f6m, a military logistics expert at the Swedish Defence University, told Swedish Television (SVT).<\/p>\n
\u201cOur transport systems and energy supply systems need to be resilient. Is it an example of a resilient system if it takes two months to get the Ore Line up and running again?\u201d<\/p>\n
For detailed data on rail projects across Europe, subscribe to IRJ Pro<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Sweden to upgrade Ore Line from Lule\u00e5 to Narvik<\/a> appeared first on International Railway Journal<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THE Swedish government has instructed infrastructure manager Trafikverket to undertake an immediate upgrade of the Ore Line between Lule\u00e5 and Narvik in Norway. Trafikverket has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rail-news","category-transport"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t