A major electrification is now underway on what is one of four railway sections between Norway and Sweden. A full 120 kilometers are in the process of being electrified on parts of Trønderbanen and Meråkerbanen. Jernbaneverket is still working to get trains in place until the line is finished in December next year. The plan is to use Swedish long-distance trains that leave from Sweden’s capital, and that this train can continue to Trondheim. Now the train company SJ requires support for the operation of the train from both the Norwegian and Swedish sides. The Swedish Transport Administration will not splice the trains and cannot give any guarantee now. There is also great uncertainty for freight traffic on this stretch. THE RAILWAY WILL BE ELECTRIC: Diesel trains run here today, but new trains will be needed next year. Photo: Tariq Alisubh Needs financial support SJ runs the train that today runs from Stockholm to Duved. Now the goal is for the same long-distance train to run from Stockholm to Trondheim. A trip that takes nine hours. This depends entirely on them receiving annual operating support. – We need some guarantee so that we have an economy at the bottom, which means that we dare to take this venture, says managing director of SJ Norge, Rikke Lind. Last year, there were 10,000 passengers on this railway section of the Meråkerbanen, which connects Norway with Sweden, while far more take the train from Stjørdal to Trondheim. Managing director of SJ Norge, Rikke Lind, hopes the Swedes provide the necessary support for operations. This will mean trains between Trondheim and Stockholm. Photo: Knut Bløtekjær / news Will not promise anything On the Swedish side, they cannot promise money for such a train between Sweden and Norway. – This is not the section that has the highest priority if it means that we have to cut traffic agreements on other sections in Sweden, says head of department for national planning in the Swedish Transport Administration, Lennart Kalander. He cannot promise an answer until next year. – We have to look at how high our costs are before we can make a decision, and we won’t make a decision until the autumn, so it won’t be until 2025. Head of department Lennart Kalander in the Swedish Transport Administration, says they won’t until next year decide whether they can give money to Swedish – Norwegian passenger trains. Photo: Trafikverket / Samuel Scott; Trafikverket Has a dialogue with the Swedes It is still unclear which train will be used when the 120 kilometer long railway from Trondheim to Stjørdal and further over the Meråkerbanen is fully electrified. The work is delayed by a year, and will be completed next year. NOK 2.1 billion is being invested to electrify the railway. The Directorate of Railways is betting that they can then use Swedish long-distance trains. – We have a close dialogue with the Swedish Transport Administration and of course hope that they can increase the spaces in their budgets, so that this can be put in place, says senior engineer in the Norwegian Railway Directorate, Terje Sivertsvoll. Senior engineer Terje Sivertsvoll in the Norwegian Railway Directorate does not get any clarification from the Swedes this year, but hopes they will be allowed to use Swedish trains on the Meråkerbanen. Photo: Mathias Mikalsen Undecided The Norwegian Railway Directorate is positive about providing operating support for a train between Trønder’s capital and Stockholm. The alternative could be local trains like today. – If we do not get the Swedish part of the financing in place, then we will have to look at other options, but we will have to come back to that later, says Sivertsvoll. According to what news knows, SJ is demanding NOK 13 million from both the Norwegian and Swedish sides. SJ does not wish to confirm this amount. SWEDISH FORECAST: Zero freight trains are planned on the Swedish side, close to the border with Norway and the Meråkerbanen. Photo: Rita Kleven Zero freight from Sweden An important argument for prioritizing a major upgrade of the Meråkerbanen has been to establish freight traffic between Norway and Sweden. There was no electrification on the Trønder line from Stjørdal to Steinkjer. In a new forecast from the Swedish Transport Administration, there are zero freight trains between Duved and Storlien, where the Meråkerbanen starts. It creates reactions. – Zero freight trains, it’s terrible. We have clearly reported this to the Swedish Transport Administration, and we hope this will be corrected, says Jennie Söderberg, who is the representative of Atlantbanan from the Jämtland Härjedalen region. Jennie Söderberg is the representative of Atlantbanan from the Jämtland Härjedalen region. get freight traffic between Sweden and Norway. Söderberg says that the Meråkerbanen connects Norway and Sweden, and has become even more important after the Swedes became a member of NATO. Up to the freight companies This is just a forecast, says head of department in the Swedish Transport Administration, Lennart Kalander. – It is possible to operate with freight trains if there is interest from the companies. The fact that it is not included in either Norwegian or Swedish forecasts does not mean that it is not possible to apply, he writes in an e-mail to news. The Norwegian Railway Directorate also says that much is up to the freight companies. – Forecasts are forecasts. If stakeholders get together, and find that it is profitable and smart to use the Meråkerbanen for goods, then I think that it can occur outside of what we can manage and what the Swedish Transport Administration can forecast, says Terje Sivertsvoll. Work is underway to bring up masts and contact lines on the Meråkerbanen. The line will be completed in December 2025. Photo: Knut Bløtekjær / news Limited space for trains Major improvements are being made to the line in several places, but in several places there are not enough crossing tracks and limited space on the line between Norway and Sweden. – The Meråkerbanen has a slightly limited capacity, but there is still some space on the track there. Where space is tighter is between Trondheim and Hell, where the Meråkerbanen starts, says Sivertsvoll from the Norwegian Railway Directorate. BINDING NORWAY AND SWEDEN TOGETHER: Parts of the Trønder Line run from Trondheim to Stjørdal. From here starts the Meråkerbanen which goes to Storlien station, 3.5 kilometers inside the Swedish side. Published 25/07/2024, at 11.12
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Missing trains that can run when the Meråkerbanen becomes electric next year – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
