The Swedish Transport Administration is lousy and the minister is clueless
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full screen Infrastructure Minister Andreas Carlson (KD) should be driven by an inner rage over the decay. But he doesn’t do much either. Photo: Thomas Johansson
If someone were to arrange a vote on Sweden’s worst authority, I know which one it would be.
The Swedish Transport Administration.
I also know who would win the competition for Sweden’s most vain minister.
Transport Minister Andreas Carlson.
Recently it became known that the Swedish Transport Agency’s press manager Bengt Olsson deleted the text messages he sent and received in connection with the chaos on the E22 in January.
The company was called to the Riksdag’s traffic committee for its measure. It is good that the committee holds the banner of the principle of openness high. It would be even better if they squeezed out of the director-general a satisfactory explanation as to why so much that the agency takes care of is going to hell. Or better yet – ask what they do to roll up their sleeves.
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full screen Why extensive work during a long weekend? “They usually do that,” says a sober lady at SJ’s press office. Photo: Eddie Carron
Minister of Infrastructure Andreas Carlson (KD) should be driven by an inner rage at the decline. But he doesn’t do much either. The attitude is disengaged to express itself positively. Menless on the verge of action-paralyzed is more correct.
The Swedish Transport Administration has many extensive tasks. Among other things, they manage the national road network, all national railways and countless car ferries. That problems can arise in such a large operation is hardly surprising. But the taciturn minister still has some catching up to do.
On the E22 in Skåne, a thousand cars were stuck in the snow for up to a day during the chaos. Despite the orange storm warning, the plant had an on-call person on site. He was responsible for both train and car traffic.
The ore line is an umbilical cord for Sweden and the Swedish economy. It transports ore from Kiruna and Gällivare to the ports of Narvik and Luleå. And to Boden.
On December 17, an ore train on its way to Narvik derailed. After 65 days, traffic was allowed back on. A week or so later, the next train derailed, now a short distance from the previous one. The train was unloaded and stationary, snow removal was taking place nearby.
It is a national concern that the traffic on Malmbanan flows. Many wonderful export billions leave Sweden this way. LKAB now estimates that they have lost SEK 100 million a day due to canceled traffic. It will take years to drive away the piles of ore and pellets that their buyers are waiting for. Meanwhile, the quality is predicted to deteriorate. The Norwegian Accident Commission is investigating both derailments.
Norska Vy has operated the passenger traffic at night from Stockholm to Luleå and Narvik for almost four years. But now they’ve had enough. At the turn of the year, they quit without taking advantage of the opportunity they had to run the trains for another two years.
The alternative is that they get paid more. The company explains the difficulty in reaching profitability with the fact that the wagons they took over were in worse condition than they had imagined and the pandemic.
During December and January, 11,000 train departures were cancelled. The Swedish Transport Administration was not responsible for everyone. But unfortunately, it seems that the risk of delays is built in when the agency plans and builds new railways.
The Norrbothnia line will run 27 miles between Umeå and Luleå and be ready in ten years. It is built with single tracks with so-called meeting tracks. The idea is that more people should be able to take the train to the metropolises on the coast.
But even now the traffic south of Umeå is up to the same extent as the planned north of the city. The traffic will not be able to expand, the track capacity is too low.
The same mistake was made when the Svealandsbanan between Södertälje and Eskilstuna was built. Already after a few years, they had to supplement with double tracks in several places along the route.
Despite that, the Swedish Transport Administration appears to be committing the same mistake again. Build too cheaply. But changing one’s mind is “hardly relevant”, according to national planning manager Lennart Karlander.
– Totally unacceptable costs, he says.
Easter is one of the biggest traffic weekends of the year. Then the Swedish Transport Administration carries out track work, which means that SJ’s high-speed train took six hours between Stockholm and Gothenburg. Normally, the journey takes three hours and 15 minutes.
Why extensive work during a long weekend? “They usually do that,” says a sober lady at SJ’s press office. Well, why not stick with something stupid?
This has been very much about the railway. The Swedish Transport Administration’s black list also includes potholes, snow removal, poorly managed maintenance, etc., etc., etc.
The Swedish Transport Agency is too big, the management is inadequate, members of parliament irresponsible and the minister of infrastructure is clueless. A puddle of incompetence.
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