Monday is the fateful day for Fornebubanen. Tonight, the Oslo Labor Party and Oslo SV decide whether they want to scrap the project and stop construction. The background is the billion crack that became known on April 1. The price is now up to NOK 26.4 billion for an eight-kilometer metro between Fornebu in Bærum and Majorstua in Oslo. Without track no agreement If the track is dropped, the agreement on increased toll rates that the state, Oslo and Viken entered into at the end of April does not apply either. – Without Fornebubane, we have no agreement on a supplementary agreement to Oslo Package 3, says county councilor for finance in Viken, Edvin Søvik (Labor). In the agreement, the politicians agreed on a toll jump of about 40 percent on average. The money will be used to finance public transport measures in Greater Oslo. Much of the increase goes to pay for Fornebubanen. THE STATIONS: Seven stations are planned on Fornebubanen in addition to Majorstua. 5000 kroner more a year How much more each individual motorist has to go out with, depends on what kind of car you drive, how many misses you have to go through and when in the day you drive. A diesel or petrol motorist who lives in old Akershus and works within the original toll ring in Oslo, has to pay around 5,000 kroner more a year. The extra bill for electric drivers is in the same order of magnitude. – Now it is up to the city council in Oslo and the county council in Viken to approve the agreement, says head of the Oslo Package 3 secretariat, Terje Rognlien. The 2016 agreement applies He says that if the agreement is not approved, the old agreement from 2016 will still apply. This means that the toll level will be the same as today in the foreseeable future. Rognlien adds that a no to the agreement is in reality quite serious, and not just for Fornebubanen. – Then you risk shaking the entire Oslo Package 3 collaboration, which can have consequences in the long run, he says. – Must cut in investments This is confirmed by Edvin Søvik. He strongly warns his party colleagues in Oslo against scrapping the field. It is important to reduce traffic and emissions and create climate-friendly infrastructure in both counties, he says. GOES IN MINUS: There will be less money for public transport even if Fornebubanen is dropped, according to county councilor for finance in Viken, Edvin Søvik. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB – I can not imagine that we will sit down and negotiate a new Oslo package 3 in many years if Oslo now says no to the agreement. – It is serious because it will provide less income for Oslo Package 3. This means that you have to cut important public transport investments and pedestrian and bicycle investments both in Oslo and in Viken, he says. More money or less money? In the short term, however, it seems that the exact opposite is the case. The calculation is as follows: Over the next four years, the price jump for motorists is estimated to provide about NOK 5 billion in increased revenue. In the same period, it is planned to spend around NOK 6.3 billion on the Fornebu line only from tolls. Money from the state and landowners comes in addition. Even with toll rates at the current level, dropping the track will free up over a billion kroner for other things, at least apparently. – In isolation, it looks like this now, but then they have not taken into account the increased costs of closing the hole on Fornebubane and stopping the work, says Edvin Søvik. KJEMPEHULL: In the giant construction pit, there will be space for both the terminus at Fornebu and a new base for subway cars. Photo: Bård Nafstad / NRK He can also tell that Viken has made new calculations of what will happen in the next eight years if you drop the toll increase. They show 1.7 billion kroner in minus even if you do not have to spend money on Fornebubanen. – There will be no more money for other projects if you stop Fornebubanen now. It will be smaller, Edvin Søvik concludes. More tolls, less emissions In Oslo, the third city council party, MDG, said yes to both rail and more tolls last Monday. Group leader Eivind Trædal tells NRK that increased tolls in themselves will have a direct positive effect on traffic and climate in Oslo. – A preliminary estimate shows that the ceiling increases will lead to a 10 percent reduction in car traffic and an 8 percent reduction in climate emissions. – I do not know of any investments we can make that will have such a large effect on Oslo’s traffic and climate goals, says Trædal.
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Motorists save tolls if Fornebubanen is shelved – NRK Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
