On Saturday evening, an unloaded ore train derailed on the Malmbanan not far from the Norwegian border. Malmbanen and Ofotbanen are one of Northern Norway’s most important transport routes. Every day, tons of ore are transported from Kiruna to Narvik, where the ore is sent out to the world by ship. The derailment happened just days after Malmbanan had just reopened after the previous accident. A fully loaded train with iron ore on its way to Narvik derailed in northern Sweden on 17 December. This led to the important train line being closed for 65 days. It was not until Tuesday this week that train traffic started up again. The police are investigating The two derailments are now being investigated by Swedish police. They write in an update that the events are currently classified as sabotage. They emphasize that they routinely start investigations into such major incidents in order to be able to make more investigative moves. They also write that there are currently no suspects and that they are investigating widely. – These are serious incidents that have had a major impact on the infrastructure, and in these cases we have started an investigation into a serious crime, says Karin Markaberg, head of the investigation section at the Norrbotten police district, to the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter. Lost 100 million a day The Swedish mining company LKAB accounts for 85 percent of the iron ore produced within the EU. LKAB usually runs ten daily trains fully loaded with iron ore with Ofotbanen. The fact that the track was closed led to the Swedish mining company losing around 100 million Swedish kroner per day. Earlier in February, news wrote that 3 million tonnes of iron pellets with a value of NOK 5 billion had piled up on the industrial areas in Kiruna and Svappavaara. A month and a half train stoppage means that LKAB will not be able to keep up with the piles of ore that have piled up. – It will take a long time, perhaps until 2030 or longer. Linda Bjurholt, who is logistics manager at LKAB, tells SVT. Wants double track Press manager Anders Lindberg of LKAB has previously told news that a third of the ore extracted from the mines is transported to the Swedish coastal town of Luleå, and transported out from there. But frozen seas in the Gulf of Bothnia mean that Luleå is not as attractive as a shipping port. Narvik harbor is ice-free, has a larger capacity and is more easily accessible for LKAB’s customers. – Without Narvik harbour, LKAB would not be the company we are today. But the single track on Malmbanan/Ofotbanen is extremely vulnerable and not enough. We need to see investments across the board. – Will be important for NATO In Norway, there has been little political will to build double tracks on the Ofot line. The situation has not been better on the Swedish side. But perhaps that is about to turn. – We feel that there is a growing understanding of how important this railway is. Partly thanks to the income that LKAB provides to the Swedish state, partly for the transport of goods and people. The impending Nato membership gives another dimension to Malmbanan’s strategic importance, says Lindberg.
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Suspect that sabotage led to the derailment of the ore line at the Swedish border – news Nordland
