Strategic agenda
Although a remote part of Europe, the Northern Calotte has an important role for national and international transports of goods, people, and defense materials. A strengthened reliability on the railway connections between Norway, Sweden and Finland (Narvik to Luleå to Tornio) –TEN-T – should therefore have a prioritized position on the agenda for developing European transport systems. Here are our recommended investment areas, to reach the goal for optimized operations on the Northern Calotte.
- Double track between Luleå–Boden and Narvik–Kiruna
- Increased number of meeting tracks Narvik–Luleå
- Efficiency improvement on the border crossing Tornio–Haparanda
- Co-planning between authorities and industry across national borders
- Optimization of traffic planning in all three countries
- Increased predictive maintenance in all three countries
Why this agenda?
- Reliability on arctic rail is a key factor to succeed with the green transition in the Nordic region and Europe, for critical material flows and passenger transport to enable increased competence attraction
- Reliability on arctic rail is needed to ensure transport across national borders in an increasingly unstable security-politically environment
Why is a coalition needed?
- There is no cross- border collaborative organization with focus on the railway between Tornio to Luleå to Narvik today
- Actors have worked for a long time individually and to some extent in collaboration, but lacked a common thread and goal which is a prerequisite for the desired success
- There is a lack of an organization within railway collaboration that has a North Calotte perspective (all three countries)
- There is a lack of an organization that can effectively receive funding and order targeted efforts
