The Stockholm Chamber of Commerce believes that the state should buy out the Arlanda Line and open up the tracks for more trains. A new report estimates the cost at 4 billion kronor.

Financing will be provided through the sale of land at Bromma Airport.

Moderate leader Ulf Kristersson went out in Di last winter and announced that he wants to settle with the government about the flight in Stockholm.

What he wants to see is a solution where Arlanda is expanded, so that domestic flights can eventually be moved there from Bromma.

The response from Infrastructure Minister Tomas Eneroth (S) was a quick investigation into the future capacity at Arlanda, which should be completed in June.

An important piece of the puzzle is the connections to and from Arlanda, where there are currently major shortcomings.

The airport is relatively far from central Stockholm, a one-way train journey with Arlanda Express costs 299 SEK and the roads are often crowded.

Now the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce has produced a new report, presenting several proposals to improve connections to Arlanda.

The single most important thing is to open up the Arlanda Line for more train traffic.

”"The trains that run today are expensive and have relatively low capacity, which means that we are not making optimal use of existing infrastructure," says Carl Bergkvist, business policy expert at the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.

The Arlandabanan line is owned by the state, which has an agreement with A-Train, a private company that operates the Arlanda Express service. The agreement runs until 2050 and gives A-Train the right to charge fees from other operators who want to use the line.

One solution that the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce wants to see is for the state to buy out A-Train, something that according to new calculations would cost around 4 billion kronor.

”This would double the capacity of train traffic from approximately 3,500 to approximately 7,000 seats per hour,” says Carl Bergkvist.

In connection with the Arlanda Line being free-marketed, the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce wants to abolish the current station fee, which other train operators must pay to A-Train to be allowed to stop at Arlanda Central Station. 

The Chamber of Commerce also wants to connect both commuter train traffic and regional traffic with Arlanda, with direct lines from places such as Linköping, Örebro, Västerås and Eskilstuna.

”"It would provide much better accessibility for the entire Mälardalen. Örebro would go from a few direct departures per day to two departures per hour, directly to Arlanda without changing," says Carl Bergkvist.

In addition to expanding train traffic, the Chamber of Commerce wants to see more bus lines to Arlanda and a widening of the E4 between Arlanda and Upplands Väsby.

In the longer term, they also want to investigate the possibility of extending the Roslagsbanan line to Arlanda, which serves the northern part of the county.

According to Carl Bergkvist, it is important to keep costs down.

”"The infrastructure money is more or less exhausted, so our starting point has been that this should be done as cheaply as possible," he says.

”"It won't be about major renovations, but we will be tweaking the infrastructure that already exists," he continues.

Carl Bergkvist would prefer see that the government has allocated 4 billion kronor to the national plan to redeem A-Train, but he has no high hopes for that.

Another solution to be able to buy out the Arlandabanan line is to close Bromma Airport and sell the land there.

”"If the state were to withdraw from its agreement regarding Bromma earlier than 2038, when it expires, it would be a negotiation situation between the state and the City of Stockholm," says Carl Bergkvist.

”"Then we think that the state should take advantage of that situation and let the city share in the development revenues that you get when you sell the land. That way you can take that money and finance the purchase of the Arlandabanan line," he continues.

BETTER CONNECTIONS TO ARLANDA

The Stockholm Chamber of Commerce has produced a new report, which will be presented on Friday, with proposals to improve connections to and from Arlanda.

Stage 1:

*Free purchase of the Arlandabanan line and end the current service with Arlanda Express.

*Strengthen regional train traffic from places such as Linköping, Örebro, Västerås and Eskilstuna with direct connections to Arlanda.

*Connect commuter train traffic in Stockholm with Arlanda.

*Abolish the current station fee at Arlanda Central Station.

*Expand bus service to Arlanda.

Stage 2:

*Widen the E4 between Upplands Väsby and Arlanda.

*Investigate new ITS (intelligent transport systems) solutions for bus and blue light traffic, to reduce congestion on the roads.

*Expand SL's regular bus service to Arlanda.

Stage 3:

*Investigate the possibility of extending the Roslagsbanan line to Arlanda.

Source: DI.SE