A researcher quartet: ”We’re wasting billions on new railways”

I recently took part in an interesting communiqué that I just have to retell. Four established traffic researchers have conducted it; they had gone through the Swedish investments in roads and railways, and concluded that a number of the investments are straight up unprofitable.

In the report it is clear that the state will add about 44 billion on maintenance and investments in roads and railways. Until 2021 this makes about 157 billion SEK, which taxpayers are forced to pay. However, will the traffic be better?
The four researchers, who inspected the Swedish transport policy, respond “no” to this question.

They have looked through the last ten years and found that one third, 61 billion SEK, of all infrastructure investments have been unprofitable from a socioeconomic perspective. Some examples they are highlighting are the railway investments in the City Tunnel in Malmö, the West Link in Gothenburg and, above all, the planned tracks for high-speed trains.

The calculations are based on weighing the cost of building a road or rail versus what the actual benefits are in terms of shorter travel times, new commuting possibilities, improved labor market, less pollution, and more.

According to the report, a series of projects have been implemented – even though they do not provide enough benefit.
– It is a huge waste of money. We spend 44 billion on infrastructure.
– We could save 10-20 billion of that money, says Maria Börjesson, one of the authors and an associate professor of transportation analysis at KTH.

According to Maria Börjesson, the general impression that Sweden is investing too little in infrastructure is downright inaccurate.
– If only we had invested in profitable projects, the money we are investing in infrastructure projects in Sweden would have sufficed plentifully.

According to the researchers, the most current example is the investment in high-speed railroads in Sweden. There have been predictions that the investment would be economically unprofitable, and the criticism of the project is severe. But the work of tracks is in full swing. The same prognosis applies to the West link, according to the researchers.