The Iron Ore Line and the Ofoten Line – the Artery of a Connected North Calotte

The Iron Ore Line and the Ofoten Line – the Artery of a Connected North Calotte

The Iron Ore Line (Malmbanan) and the Ofoten Line form the vital railway corridor for the North Calotte and play a key role in our vision of an integrated trilateral railway system between Sweden, Norway, and Finland.

These railways are essential to the growing Arctic tourism industry, freight and mineral transport to the Bothnian Bay, the Baltic Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean, Norway’s seafood industry, and the expanding defense cooperation within NATO.

As recently highlighted in both an article and television report by Swedish public service broadcaster SVT, Malmbanan is currently one of the most heavily affected railway lines in Sweden. According to Region Norrbotten, the lack of capacity and frequent disruptions are already causing severe economic losses for industry and tourism. The report underlines the urgent need for investment and modernization of this critical stretch.

👉 Watch/read the SVT report (in Swedish) link: https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/norrbotten/malmbanan-en-av-de-varst-drabbade-strackorna-i-sverige

Today’s transport volumes are already putting pressure on the infrastructure, and the future will bring even greater demand for all types of transport along the routes from Tornio–Boden and Luleå–Boden–Gällivare–Kiruna–Narvik. Rather than seeing this as a challenge, we see it as an opportunity – a reason to invest and upgrade, to ensure that the Iron Ore Line and the Ofoten Line do not become bottlenecks in the Arctic transport chain.

Through both short- and long-term investments, capacity expansions, and modernization, we can ensure that these lines remain the artery that keeps the North Calotte connected and drives its development forward. We must not only solve today’s problems – we must also prepare for tomorrow.

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