🇸🇪 Double track required for the green transition

Press release from Bodenxt

The railway line between Luleå and Boden needs to be expanded to a double track. This is according to Region Norrbotten, Luleå municipality, Boden municipality and Norrbotten municipalities in a petition to the government.

“If Norrbotten is to succeed in fully capitalizing on the green industrial transition, the infrastructure needs to be rapidly expanded. The government has a golden opportunity to get in the driver’s seat. I hope that the government will heed this request and show through action that they are prepared to do the job that is required,” said Anders Öberg, Chairman of the Regional Council.

The green transition has already started and the current single-track transport system, with meeting points, risks becoming a bottleneck. Therefore, Region Norrbotten, Luleå Municipality, Boden Municipality and Norrbotten Municipalities propose that the Government bring forward capacity-increasing measures on the Malmbanan and immediately commission the Swedish Transport Administration to develop railway plans for double tracks on the Luleå-Boden route.

“In order for us in the north to be able to deliver even more growth to Sweden, double tracks on the Malmbanan between Luleå and Boden and reinforcements along the entire line are a must. Development in our region is moving at a rapid pace and this initiative needs to be implemented as soon as possible,” says Claes Nordmark, chairman of the municipal council in Boden and chairman of Norrbotten’s municipalities.

Today there is a lack of capacity on the Luleå-Boden route. Passenger traffic has been restricted to allow freight traffic to operate. As early as 2025, additional capacity is required on the railway and by 2030 the forecast is that the handling of goods in the port of Luleå will quadruple.

“The track between Luleå and Boden is already heavily congested, so we are in great need of increasing rail capacity on that route. The Port of Luleå is growing and will become Sweden’s second largest port, leading to a large increase in the need for rail transportation. The planning for the double track needs to start as soon as possible,” says Carina Sammeli, Chairman of the Municipal Board in Luleå.

In their petition, Region Norrbotten, Luleå municipality, Boden municipality and Norrbotten’s municipalities propose that the government bring forward capacity-increasing measures on the Malmbanan and immediately commission the Swedish Transport Administration to develop railway plans for double tracks on the Luleå-Boden route.

Photo: Mats Engfors, Fotographic