Railway development in Sweden

Growth of population, urbanisation, trade and economics as well as the environmental and climatic challenges calls for sustainable and efficient transportation solutions. Development of the railway is essential to meet these demands. We have to improve efficiency, quality and maintenance of existing systems as well as invest in new infrastructure, rolling stock and improved services.

The rail freight market in Sweden was opened for competition in 1996. In June 2009, the Swedish parliament approved a government bill proposing that the passenger market should also be opened up for competition. The market opening will be realised through a stepwise process. The first step was implemented in July 2009 when the market for weekend traffic was opened for competition. The second step will be to open up the market for international rail passenger traffic in October 2009. The timing makes it possible, at least in theory, for new operators to enter into competition for the great passenger demand around Christmas and the turn of the year. The third step will occur in October 2010. This is when the main part of the passenger rail market (domestic traffic Monday through to Friday) will be opened up for competition.

At the start of each of these steps new operators can only apply for spare capacity from the Swedish National Rail Administration. However, in April 2010 operators will be able to apply for capacity in equal competition with SJ AB and other operators. Due to this yearly European procedure, we cannot expect to see the full effect of the market opening until December 2011.

To safeguard passenger interest, we have introduced legislation prescribing that all operators have to provide basic information on their supply to a provider of coordinated passenger information. This legislation may be further evolved through the ongoing work with new legislation for public transport in Sweden. The Swedish Transport Agency has been appointed to monitor and evaluate the effects of the reform.

The main motives for the reform are to make railway transportation more efficient and more attractive to passengers. More operators on the rail will lead to an increased and more diversified supply. If so, we will see a greater number of passengers on the railways, beneficial to mobility as well as the environment.

Increased competition for attractive slots on the rail network calls for an improvement of the process of capacity allocation. We intend to introduce economic means in this process. We also have to address the borderline between commercial and subsidised operations, as well as the supply of rolling stock and maintenance facilities etc. New proposals may be presented to the parliament next year.

Infrastructure improvement

The Swedish Government has prioritised increased capacity and more reliable transport in order to meet the needs and demands from both freight and passengers. In 2009 and 2010 an extra SEK 11 billion is being provided for infrastructure investment in order to bring forward and complete important projects. In total, SEK 417 billion has been dedicated to investments in the transport system until 2021. With the ambition to make sure that the trains arrive at their scheduled time, the Government has increased its support to improve the operation and maintenance of the railway by 35% since 2006.

Next generation high-speed trains?

There is an increasing interest in the next generation of high-speed trains in Sweden. New high-speed lines would increase capacity and accessibility for passengers and availability for more efficient freight and regional passenger transportation on the old railway lines. The question is if the population and their demand can justify such a big investment? The Swedish Government has appointed an inquiry to clarify the conditions for building a new high-speed rail network and to also address the connection to the European high-speed railway network. The inquiry will report by 15 September 2009 and the result will form part of the Government’s decision about the future infrastructure plan for the period 2010-2021.

European harmonisation is a must

Sweden is strongly in favour of a faster development and harmonisation of the European railway system, however we are still far away from a single market. For many years the Community has tried to revise and develop the railway market with little or slow success. It is time to call for results! We need one railway system with open access to the rail infrastructure as well as terminals and a capacity allocation function which enables efficient cross border traffic. These are some of the issues that have to be dealt with in the New White Paper on Transport Policy after 2010. I hope that our Swedish example will inspire other member states to open their national markets.