Botniabanan

Infobox rail line
name = Botniabanan


caption = pass
type = High-speed railway
system = Swedish railway
status = Under construction
start = Kramfors Airport
end = Umeå
stations =
open = 2008-2010
close =
owner = Botniabanan AB
operator =
character = Passenger and freight
stock =
linelength = 190 km
tracklength =
notrack = 1
gauge = RailGauge|sg
el = 15 kV AC
speed = 250 km/h (railway)
200 km/h (trains)
elevation = |

Botniabanan or the Bothnia Line is the name of a new railway line currently under construction in northern Sweden.

Introduction

Due for completion in August 2010, Botniabanan / the Bothnia Line will add about 190 km of high-speed railway (up to 250 km/h), with 140 bridges and more than 25 km of tunnels. Its route is from Kramfors airport via Örnsköldsvik to Umeå.

Construction is being carried out by Botniabanan AB, a company owned 91% by the Swedish state, and 9% by the regional governments of Kramfors, Örnsköldsvik, Nordmaling and Umeå. Work began on the line in 1999, and reached the half-way stage at the end of 2005. When it is completed in 2010, the line will be leased to Banverket, the Swedish railway authority. When Botniabanan AB has recovered its investment (in 2050), the ownership of the line will pass to Banverket. The construction cost will be 15 billion kr.

It is intended that the Botniabanan will compete with road transport using the E4, which is a main road currently carrying heavy freight traffic.

Delayed stretch through the natural reservation area

The railway will be ready for traffic in 2008 (mid part) and 2009 (southern part). The northern part, nearest Umeå, will not see operation until late 2010, due to a courtbattle that has taken place over the placement of a bridge that will cross over environmentally sensitive areas at the Ume River. These areas are protected as a nature reserve and the process to approve its location has been opposed by environmentalists and neighbors concerned about their properties (sometimes known as "NIMBY"). Other alternatives to the present location were deemed unacceptably close to the Umeå Airport for safety reasons, and a tunnel under the airport and river would have been much too expensive. A more southerly route would have lengthened the line and been more expensive. The main crux in this debate was that the nature reserve was established some years after the railway line placement had been fixed.

There will be no passenger traffic before all of the railway is finished, though some freight traffic will utilize the finished sections.

Railway standard

This line is being built as a single track (although prepared for a second track), and will have 22 passing loops. The maximum axle weight will be 25 tons at 120 km/h (freight trains) and 250 km/h permitted for passenger trains. Curves have a radius of 3200 m or more, except for the passage of Örnsköldsvik (down to 600 m) and a few between 2000 and 2500 m). The maximum grade is one percent.

Times, distances and average speed

The trains will most likely run at 200 km/h for the first few years, with a speed increase in the future. It has not yet been decided which train operator will use the line, which trains they will use, or how fast they will be. The railway line itself will allow 250 km/h. When the trains go faster than 200 km/h, it will be the fastest single-track railway in the world. The regional trains will be owned by the two counties, since they are too expensive for an operator to buy, and take about 2–3 years to buy. The counties have started the purchasing process for the regional trains. For long-distance trains from Stockholm, it is likely that the SJ will run X2000 trains, with a top speed of 200 km/h. So far the suppliers can't guarrantee winter characteristics above 200 km/h, since there is no experience. A research project "Gröna tåget" is investigating this.

Botniabanan will also be the first line in Sweden equipped with the signalling system ERTMS (Level 2) and will be tested up to 275 km/h (250 km/h + 10%). Currently, Swedish signalling and its ATP safety system (ATC - Automatic Train Control) is just validated up to 210 km/h.

Purpose

A railway line along the coast of Northern Sweden is much needed. There is a lack of capacity on the existing main line (further inland) because of lower speed limits, curves, and grades. The Bothnia line will also improve passenger transport in the area, reducing the travel time between Umeå and Örnsköldsvik to 40–50 minutes by high-speed train. It will also be served by commuter trains, at a promised frequency of at least six trains in each direction.

Old main line

The old main railway to far northern Sweden (Bräcke–Boden) was built during the period of 1880–1895, about 30–100 km from the coast to protect it from military attacks (military airplanes didn't exist then). It is very curvy and has relatively high grades. It will remain in use by freight traffic.

Ådalsbanan

Botniabanan ends near the Kramfors Airport at the existing Ådalsbanan railway line, which goes Långsele–Kramfors–Härnösand–Sundsvall. The distance from the connection to Sundsvall is 101 km. This railway was built from 1890–1925, and is rather curvy and in a bad condition. It has almost only freight traffic today. Ådalsbanan will be improved along the existing route to allow higher speeds than today, in the range of 100–160 km/h. The improvements will include new rails, new catenary, a new signaling system (ERTMS) and better and fewer road crossings. A few parts of it north of Härnösand (totalling 29 km) will be replaced with a new route, built to the same standard as Botniabanan. This will be finished in 2011. The reason for keeping most of the existing embankment is that the advantage of building a new railway is smaller when there already is a railway, but the costs are the same as if there was no railway, which is the case along Botniabanan. The improvement cost for Ådalsbanan will be up to 6 billion SEK.

Norrbotniabanan

Norrbotniabanan is a planned extension of Botniabanan north of Umeå to Luleå. The distance is about 270 km, longer than the Botniabanan. The preliminary decision to build it has been made, and detailed planning is being done, including the choice of a route. Construction is planned to take place between 2010 and 2020.

External links

* [http://www.botniabanan.se/default.aspx?id=2136 Botniabanan Home Page]