Reaching the Norwegian port of Narvik via the Iron Ore Line had been impossible for the majority of the past 81 days due to two derailments. The line was reopened once again on Wednesday 6 March, one day before the forecasted date, as the Swedish infrastructure manager Trafikverket mentioned. On the other hand, industry players are expressing their worries about a seemingly fragile, and yet very important, railway, advocating for its doubling.
The main user of the line is the state-owned mining company LKAB. LKAB’s head of rail Caroline Wiss claimed to be grateful for the reopening of the line one day ahead of schedule. On the other hand, the company’s logistics manager, Linda Bjurholt pointed out that the line went from crisis to emergency mode, according to Swedish media Tidningen Näringslivet. Bjurholt stressed the importance of creating a concrete project to double the tracks on the entire line.
Her words were echoed by Stephen Ray, communication manager at Green Cargo, who underlined how the state-owned rail freight operator has been asking to double the railway for a couple of decades. After the second derailment, moreover, various stakeholders sent a letter to the Swedish and Norwegian governments to take immediate action to upgrade the line. Criticism about delayed maintenance and capacity restriction was moved also by Nils Paul, infrastructure expert at Svenskt Näringsliv, the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.
What happened?
The Iron Ore Line connects the Swedish port of Luleå to the Norwegian port of Narvik. It is a key infrastructure for the transport of iron ore from two of the largest mines in Sweden, located in Kiruna and Malmberget. Access to the Norwegian port was first made unavailable on 17 December, after a fully loaded train derailed along the Kopparåsen-Vassijaure section of the Iron Ore Line. The railway was reopened on February 20, but just four days later an empty train derailed on the Vassijaure-Katterjokk section, just north of the previous derailment. First estimates placed the reopening date at today, Thursday 7 March. However, operations started a day earlier.
