The North European Transport Corridor the Link Between Western and Northern Europe

The North European Transport Corridor The link between Western and Northern Europe The North European Transport Corridor is already today of significant international importance and thus important to the European integration. Considering the European Union’s east enlargement, this importance will increase further. This link between Western Europe and Northern Europe carries the heaviest flows of goods on railway of the Nordic countries. The North European Transport Corridor is an important basic structure in the system from raw material via processing to the market. Its importance for the goods flows makes it a system complement to the Nordic Triangle. Importance to national economies and European supply of goods An efficient and optimal railway corridor is of great importance to concerned national economies. Current transports in the corridor are mainly The North European Transport Corridor on railway – an important carried out by the export-intensive international main route Swedish base industry. The industry in The corridor makes a northern Sweden produces a value of Important also for EUR 20,000 millions per year. From number of regions passenger transport this region comes 20 percent of Sweden’s interact total net export, nearly twice the The concentration of population national average per capita. The corridor makes a number of along the transport corridor is important regions interact with favourable to passenger train traffic. The aim is efficient goods diverse functions: transport Journey times are often too long to commute by car or bus. Halved • Northern Norway: ice-free The function of the transport corridor journey times by train makes a ports, food industry and oil is currently hampered by shortcomings system change as municipalities are industry of capacity and infrastructure standard integrated to large regions with • Northwest Russia: raw as well as missing links. The cross-border effective labour and education materials and industry with shortcomings have started to be solved, markets. low value added • Northern Sweden and Finland: but they are still significant. The aim is Important inter-regional and cross- raw material and industry therefore to make concentrated, long- border travel flows are also facilitated with higher value added term efforts to create conditions for by a developed railway network. efficient, competitive and sustainable • Middle and southern Sweden goods transports. The last decade’s and Finland: industry with ongoing infrastructure development high value added needs to be completed. • Denmark, Germany and the rest of Western Europe: industry with high value THE EUROPEAN UNION added and important markets The European Regional Development Fund Infraplan AB • april 2003 A base for Europe’s supply heavy base industry, which increasingly is part of the same multinational companies of goods as the Swedish industry. The supply of Currently, the flow of goods comes Russian raw materials is currently much primarily from the Swedish basic industry, higher to Finland than to Sweden. followed by the Finnish and Norwegian. The largest potential in the long term The transport corridor connects regions concerns the flows from/to northwest Rus- of raw material and processing industries sia, which is one of the richest natural with important markets. Sweden stands resource areas in the world, with ores, mi- for the dominant part of EU:s iron ore nerals and natural gas. production and significant parts of copper, zinc, gold, silver, etc. Important interaction with The dominant goods flows are generated road system, ports and from ore-based industry, forest industry airports and manufacturing industry. Some of the largest companies using the transport Many of northern Europe’s largest ports, corridor are: SSAB, LKAB, Volvo, airports and road routes for international Boliden, Avesta Polarit, Kappa Kraftliner, goods transports are in direct connection SCA, etc. to the North European Transport Corridor. Specially the harbours and the road system In the short-term perspective, the largest are important to the intermodality Main road routes in the corridor and potential is from/to northern Finland’s concerning railway cargo. feeding road infrastructure Millions of net tonnes Barets Sea per track km The Atlantic Ocean < 1 1 Harstad Murmansk 5.0 USA/Canada/ Narvik 050100 150 200 250 km Great Britain Bodö Kiruna Longer Kola Peninsula Gällivare term Mo i Rana The Sallabanan line Kirovsk Rovaniemi Ala- Salla Kurtti Boden ea S Gaining te Kemi hi Luleå flows W Trondheim Uleåborg Archangelsk Kostamus Belomorsk Severdovinsk Östersund Umeå ia Onega n Karleby th Kajaani o B f o Ledm- lf u ozero G Kotskoma Sundsvall Petrozavodsk Kargopol Gävle Sortavala Onega Kotka Ladoga Stockholm Helsinki Göteborg St Petersburg The Baltic Sea Very heavy flows are carried in the Northern European Transport Corridor today. Improved connections in the north will increase the cross-border flows significantly. 2 Kiruna Kiruna Kiruna Luleå Luleå Luleå Piteå Piteå Piteå Skellefteå Skellefteå Skellefteå Umeå Umeå Umeå Sollefteå Örnsköldsvik Sollefteå Örnsköldsvik Sollefteå Örnsköldsvik Härnösand Härnösand Härnösand Sundsvall Sundsvall Sundsvall Hudiksvall Hudiksvall Hudiksvall Söderhamn Söderhamn Söderhamn Gävle Gävle Gävle Borlänge Borlänge Borlänge Karlstad Karlstad Karlstad Örebro Örebro Örebro Permissible wagon weight with an Bearing kapacity RC locomotive Capacity Göteborg today Göteborg (tonnes) Göteborg Higest permissible utilization axle load (tonnes) <1000/ Not electrified Maximum 2 h 20 1000 - 1100 22,5 Shortage 1200 - 1300 Hässleholm 25 Hässleholm Hässleholm Problems 1400 - 1600 Malmö 30 Malmö Malmö Balance The bearing capacity is presently Insufficient train weights are possible The capacity problems are severe on insufficient on most parts of the north north of Sundsvall. The Bothnia Line along the Main line, the Haparandabanan line and Sweden part of the Northern European the Malmbanan line. The Bothnia line and with the upgraded Ådalsbanan Line will allow Transport Corridor. The problems are the new Haparandabanan line will improve aggravated by the fact that this region is sufficient train weights to Umeå. North of the situation. Further measures are needed generating a major part of the heaviest Umeå and east of Borlänge further between Umeå - Luleå, Sundsvall - Gävle goods transports. measures are needed. and Hallsberg - Mjölby. Large investments are made Haparandabanan line, the Norrbotniabanan the system. In addition to the Future Plan, and new are planned line’s first stage, improves the connection to supplementary investments on the Ådals- The North European Transport Corridor still Finland and Russia and is estimated to have banan line are needed. has significant investment needs, mainly in a very high importance in a long-term international perspective. The Future Plan of the The Ostkustbanan line, the Main line form of low capacity and “missing links”. through upper Norrland and the North Strategic system shortcomings are limiting Swedish National Rail Administration’s (Ban- verket) includes upgrading Boden-Kalix and Main line will need continuous the international connections between the strengthening of flow and bearing capacity countries and the regions. new route location Kalix-Haparanda. The development of the track gauge shifting facil- and exchange of tracks. Improved rail standard will have great ity between Sweden-Finland will continue. The route for goods through Bergslagen, significance for the transport economy of the part Hallsberg-Mjölby, will in the Future concerned industries and markets. Ledmozero-Kotskoma is newly opened link that reaches the Murmansk line, see figure Plan entirely be developed into double tracks. Important railways and objects in the North 2. Hence an important connection has been The South Main line is part of the Nordic European Transport Corridor: opened for the east-enlargement to the rich triangle, is carrying a heavy load of goods natural resources of the Kola Peninsula, and passenger traffic and needs increased Malmbanan line/Ofotenbanan line, Archangelsk Oblast, Republic of Karelia, etc. connecting to the Norwegian port Narvik bearing capacity and flow capacity. and to Luleå, has for decades been of great The Sallabanan line, see figure 2, is a The Western Main line and the Bergslags- importance, but needs capacity and train discussed extension in the long term. This banan line are important links towards the weight improvements. “missing link” Salla-Alakurtti towards ports in the region of Gothenburg for further Kandalakscha makes a shorter route from/ Norrbotniabanan line – a new railway along sea transport. In order to reduce conflicts with to the rich of ores and minerals, Kola passenger transport on the Västra Stamba- the northern coast of Norrland – is included Peninsula. in the Government’s agreement with its nan main line, the flows of goods are parliamentary base after the election of 2002. The Bothnia Line and a strong upgrade of successively moved to the Bergslagsbanan When this link is built, the Main line and the Ådalsbanan line will be completed in line. the new coastal railway will form a functional 2009, resulting in obvious improvements of double track. Sweden invests 3,600 million euro in the North European Transport Corridor Since a decade, Sweden makes substantial Narvik investments in modernising the neglected transport-intense railway network in Norrland. Billions of Euro have been invested on the Kiruna Norra Stambanan main line, the Ostkustbanan

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