“Higher speeds are being introduced for more freight trains on more routes”, they added. Moreover, there are also new provisions for road freight as well, such as a wider deployment of trucks up to 34.5 metres. The plan also aim at strengthening “total defence”, highlighting a focus on facilitating military mobility in combined transport.

“The rollout of the ERTMS signaling system for the railway continues and will be introduced gradually until 2042”, the Transport Administration adds. “In addition, several capacity-increasing measures are proposed for rail and road.”

Security

The Swedish agency highlights the “deteriorating security situation” as an underlying reason for the investments. “The transport sector needs to strengthen its ability to maintain essential societal functions, both in peacetime crises and at high alert and, ultimately, in war”, it says.

“The proposed plan contains important elements that contribute to a more robust transportation system that also strengthens total defense”, said Roberto Maiorana, Director General of the Swedish Transport Administration. Despite the announcement, approval of the plan is still pending. A government decision is expected in spring of 2026.

The IM underlined the importance of the line for military mobility as well as freight movement. Between its opening in 1928 and the interruption of traffic in 1990, the line was crossed by freight trains carrying iron ore, forest products and peat.

Military mobility in the EU

Improving railway networks to be ready to move troops and military equipment has become a priority in many European countries and institutions. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Israel’s occupation of Palestine and Trump’s anti-EU approach led many Member States to increase defence spending to become more independent when it comes to equipment and more prepared in case of war.

NATO recently asked its members to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP. To reach this goal, many countries decided to invest into improving, reopening, or building new infrastructure for military mobility. Even the CEF funds, Europe’s main funding mechanism for rail infrastructure projects, significantly increased the slice of the pie destined to military mobility projects.

The primary work to be done on the line is the replacement of an entire electric power plant, which is connected to the rail network. Trafikverket is also rebuilding a station on the line, so that fast trains can overtake slower trains, increasing capacity on the route.

During the closures, trains will be rerouted on tracks around the Western Main Line to bypass the Göteborg – Alingsås section, but they will be able to enter the line again once they pass the closed part.

Rail freight concerns

Swedish rail freight parties expressed concerns about the Western Main Line closures in 2024. At the time, there were no weekend closure plans yet. Rather, Trafikverket introduced plans to allow one freight train per hour and have freight-free hours in the afternoons.

“It will be difficult to be forced to run most of the freight trains during the night,” Stephan Ray from Green Cargo told Swedish media in October. “Loading and unloading of the trains in the port takes place around the clock and requires a continuous flow of trains from and to the port if the logistics are to work and the railway yard does not become clogged.”

Scheme might be retroactive

In order to make this co-financing scheme fair for all, Trafikverket “should analyse the possibilities of retroactively providing support to operators who have previously installed onboard equipment for ERTMS”, the Swedish government stated. One interesting note is that, if there will be funding coming from the EU, it would be deducted from the support provided by the state.

Deadlines are looming

The deployment of ERTMS remains a race against time, and not only in Sweden. According to TEN-T regulations, a great number of railways need to be equipped with ERTMS by 2030. Currently, only sections of the so-called Iron Ore Line, one of the most utilised lines in the country for rail freight, are equipped with trackside ERTMS.

This means that rolling stock needs to be upgraded with ERTMS on-board components by then, otherwise there is the risk that locomotives will not be able to run. Hence the need for financial state support. For all these reasons, “the (Swedish) government considers that support for investments in on-board equipment for ERTMS needs to be introduced”.

A European problem

Implementing ERTMS in Europe continues to be a somewhat problematic task, in some countries more than others. Last week, the European Rail Freight Association sounded the alarm, pointing out that the constant introduction of new ERTMS specifications and upgraded versions brings significant instability and uncertainty to the sector. Different approaches in different countries and high costs are other issues that, paired with the incessant changes in versions, are making it difficult to have a seamless implementation.

The investments are necessary to enable further investments in crucial economic sectors, says climate minister Romina Pourmokhtari: “The government has decided on major investments to strengthen the railway, for both freight and passenger transport. These are investments to increase the pace of climate change in Sweden. The industry’s climate initiatives in northern Sweden, including fossil-free steel and iron ore, are absolutely crucial in this work. To enable these investments, there must be reliable rail transport.”

Approvals

The projects that the government has approved are part of a national infrastructure plan that was put together in 2022 and 2023. The Swedish Transport Administration put forward a number of proposals – which the government has made its final decisions on, according to Swedish media.

Even if the project is already ongoing, a group of municipalities along the line want to expand the upgrade even further. It is advocating for an entirely new double track of 40 kilometres in length between Gothenburg and Alingsås. Since the line is a major bottleneck for passenger and freight traffic alike, such an upgrade is supposed to mitigate the issues.

A window of opportunity

The group sees an opportunity to make their wish a reality: the Swedish Transport Administration is now putting forward proposals for the upcoming national transport plan. In other words, there might be an opportunity to get the issue prioritised, according to Swedish media.

Sweden is also starting new upgrade works on the railway between Borlänge and Falun, another important line for freight traffic. The project is worth 83 million Swedish crowns, and includes works on the tracks, electrification and signalling. The modernisation is supposed to last from February 2025 until July 2026.

The issue has been a topic of discussion for more than 20 years already. But now the Trafikverket is finally taking matters into its own hands. “After much deliberation, we have now decided to establish a shunting service at the eight shunting yards,” a representative of the agency tells Swedish media. “We want to give all train companies access to the possibility of marshaling freight cars.”

Capacity for everyone

“We want to make the capacity available to everyone and we want to create the same conditions for all companies to strengthen their competitiveness by gaining access to the marshalling yards”, the representative adds. “Primarily, it concerns the planning and management of the operations at the railway yards, that is, the operations that are carried out in the marshalling towers. The operators will continue to be responsible for the actual vehicle movements at the railway yard.”

The current arrangement has worked for a long time, because there are very few rail companies that operate single wagon load traffic, and therefore, haven’t needed shunting services at Sweden’s yards.

Before Trafikverket can successfully take over the operations, it will need to learn from Green Cargo’s experience, the agency says. “It is Green Cargo that has the experience and competence. It’s a completely new activity for us at the Swedish Transport Administration.”

Green Cargo positive

“Purely conceptually, we see no disadvantages with this,” Stephan Ray, communications manager at Green Cargo, tells Swedish media. “The change means in practice that we no longer have to do what has always been the Swedish Transport Administration’s mission and responsibility. How it turns out operationally is of course too early to comment on, as well as the production costs.”

The tests will initially only include Voith and Dellner’s couplers, with the ones from Knorr-Bremse and Wabtec being implemented at a later stage. “The fact that we start this demo train with ‘only’ Dellner and Voith, is more a timing issue and couplers from the other suppliers will be mounted on the steel train during the project”, a representative from Lindholmen Science Park specified.

Digital Automatic Coupling

The DAC project remains a very relevant topic regarding European rail freight. With DAC, freight wagons could be coupled together automatically, speeding up operations and increasing safety, but would also create a digital connection throughout the train. This digital connection would allow for further automation of processes including automated brake tests.

Supporters of the initiative highlight the benefits automation and digitalisation can bring to the industry as a whole. Detractors of DAC, on the other hand, underline the uncertainties surrounding funding, financial benefits and the concreteness of the Digital component. Currently, Europe plans a large-scale deployment of DAC for 2030, but many view this timeline as very ambitious to say the least.

The main focus of the investment for rail is catching up with overdue maintenance. For that reason, the government has proposed an investment of 210 billion Swedish crowns (18,5 billion euros) in rail infrastructure maintenance. Road infrastructure can count on an even bigger maintenance boost, with a grand total of 354 billion Swedish crowns (31,2 billion euros) in maintenance expenditures over the next 11 years.

Nevertheless, the 210 billion crown budget for rail maintenance is about as much as the Swedish Transport Agency can spend during that time frame. “With the proposed investments, all deferred maintenance on the road side can be recovered during the plan period. On the railway, it takes longer to deal with the backlog of maintenance, but the funds are sufficient to recover as much maintenance as the Swedish Transport Administration deems possible to catch up with during the period”, the Swedish government explains.

Infrastructure expansion

There will also be infrastructure expansions. The main points of attention are commuter traffic and rail freight transportation. “At the same time that extended maintenance is prioritized, investments in new and economically efficient infrastructure are required. Conditions for travel to work and education as well as business transport must be prioritized for new investments in roads and railways”, the government stated. It will spend 607 billion crowns (53,5 billion euros) on infrastructure expansion, which covers both the road and rail sector.