The Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) issues warning: Swedish roads and railways about to collapse

The Swedish Transport Administration's direction framework for the plan period 2022–2033, commissioned by the Swedish government, is abundantly clear when it comes to the state of our infrastructure.
“Maintenance of railways and road networks must take precedence over new investments.”
According to the Swedish Transport Administration, the cost to resume neglected maintenance has amounted to SEK 66 billion – funds that have not been included in the government's budget.
Meanwhile, Sweden's infrastructure debt amounts to approx. SEK 250 billion, according to experts.

In a time when investments in new developments and high-speed trains are being discussed, the Swedish Transport Administration has issued a warning regarding the widely neglected maintenance of Swedish roads and railways. According to the Swedish Transport Administration, the cost to resume neglected maintenance amounts to SEK 66 billion. The largest concern is the fact these funds have not been included in the budget for the upcoming plan period.

Mårten Bergman, Director of Infrastructure Policy at Svenskt Näringsliv, shares his concerns in a recently published article in Swedish business paper Dagens Industri:
“The Swedish Transport Administration sheds a light on the fact that we no longer have control over the accelerating rate of degradation.”
“Four years ago, the authority brought up the fact that low-traffic roads and railways, among them connector roads that are vital for the basic industry, were in bad shape. Now, the need for maintenance arises in high-traffic roads as well.”
I must say, I agree with Bergman. If this continues, it will be hard to maintain high-quality freight forwarding services in Sweden.

More than 60 per cent of all government-owned roads were built before 1970. Back then, traffic was completely different. These roads are thus constructed for significantly fewer and lighter transports than we have today. Since then, the wear and tear has been greater than the resources for expansions, reinvestments and maintenance.
The Swedish Transport Administration writes in their report:
“The main challenges are to address the neglected maintenance in roads and constructions built between 1950 and 1970, as well as adapting our road network to new and higher total load capacities.”

According to experts’ calculations, restoring the road network to its original condition will cost several hundred billion Swedish kronor. They say that the Swedish infrastructure debt is close to SEK 250 billion, which is a few billions more than the calculated total cost for the debated high-speed trains that will run on new main railway lines.

Therefore, the Swedish Transport Agency issues a warning about Sweden's infrastructure and the neglected maintenance of our roads. In this context, I have a hard time understanding why our politicians place such large focus on railways. The government's expenditure on road maintenance has come to a halt during the 2000's, in relation to the amount of traffic. During 2018, the operating and maintenance costs amounted to 0,13 SEK per vehicle-km – the same as in the 1990's.

I hope that you, our politicians in parliament, will keep this in mind when you consider the government's infrastructure proposition – because it will serve as a template for both costs and priorities well into the 2030's.

Thomas