Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) announced new estimates of the costs of high-speed rail. They show lower total costs than those presented in December. Trafikverket also presented possible measures and costs of upgrading the main railway routes.
The new estimates for high-speed rail line between Stockholm and Gothenburg / Malmö show a total cost of SEK 230 billion (EUR 24 billion), SEK +/- 30 billion (EUR 3.22 billion). In the new calculations the route and station locations that Sweden presented in February, have taken into account.
Trafikverket has also analyzed a number of cost drivers and identified a number of new technical solutions. This applies, for example, mass handling, tunnels, bridges, viaducts and noise protection measures, not in the least the question of ballasted versus fixed track.
Railway capacity in southern Sweden is not enough to meet the growing demand for passenger and freight transport. Significant investments need to be made. Is not about building new high-speed lines but to expand the existing railway with new tracks in several stretches. At the same time it is important to maintain the existing main railway network.
As for the existing Southern and Western main lines Trafikverket reported measures in a cost effective way to increase capacity. Calculations have been made for the two options of upgrading; speed up to 200 km / h (ballasted track) and for sections of up to 250 km / h (slab track). The calculations show that the cost of upgrading to a maximum of 200 km / h is SEK 90 billion (EUR 9.7 billion) +/- SEK 15 billion (EUR 1.6 billion) and the upgrade to a maximum of 250 km / h costs amount to SEK 130 billion (EUR 14 billion) SEK+/- 20 billion (EUR 2.15 billion).
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