Bothnian rail-link must be EU’s priority
Finland and Sweden entreat EU transport commissioner Siim Kallas to include transnational railway around the Bothnian Gulf into EU’s investment budget for transport infrastructure.
EU is working on its long-term investment budget for railway networks across Europe, a plan that is supposed to be presented later this autumn. EUObserver reports that Brussels will unveil the ‘core’ transport network later in September.
The northernmost new rail-link in the EU, the Bothnian Corridor is however not included in Brussels’ investment horizon.
Sweden’s Minister for Infrastructure Catharina Elmsäter-Svärd and Finland’s Minister of Transport Merja Kyllönen say it is unfortunate that the Bothnian Corridor i not included in EU’s long-term budget.
In a letter to Commissioner Siim Kallas, the two ministers emphasize the importance of effective routes for raw materials from northern Europe to the rest of the Union.
A considerable part of EU’s demand of raw materials comes from northern Sweden and Finland, writes the two ministers Elmsäter-Svärd and Kyllönen.
Read more:Sweden invests in railway to Norway
The Bothninan Corridor includes both up-grading of existing railway lines and new connections from Umeå in the south to Haparanda and across the border to Finnish Torino and further towards the Seinäjoki-Oulu line.
A pre-study outlines urgent investments in the range of €5 to 7 billion before 2020 to meet the increase in business and transport needs for the forest- and mining industry in the Barents Region. The study argues that the current strong growth in northern Europe has a significant impact on the economy in the European Union.
