DEVELOPING DOUBLE TRACK RAILWAY BETWEEN OSLO AND GOTHENBURG

To meet the needs of society and business

What are the benefits of upgrading the Oslo-Gothenburg railway?

Developing double tracks OSL-GBG cater for a continuous and sustainable development in Europe and Scandinavia.

Growing business

The key to unlocking growth

Green growth is dependant on fast, safe and reliable transports so companies can keep their promises to customers and business partners, or business and investments will go elsewhere. Talent and tech is already here, let’s give them what they need to stay and grow. OSL-GBG must be expanded so we can develop, secure and grow green trade.

OSL-GBG must be expanded to develop, secure and grow trade.

Critical infrastructure

A railway to trust

OSL-GBG is the main transport route between Norway and Europe and a critical piece of infrastructure. It must be fast, efficient and trustworthy. Today, a single track railway caters for all needs, limiting goods transports and passenger train capacity. This forces logistics to road transport, which takes longer, increases emissions and causes cross border traffic infarcts from Oslo to Gothenburg and onwards. If this issue isn’t resolved, business growth and international affairs will be severely limited. An efficient route between Norway and Sweden is vital for all of Europe.

It makes business sense – and saves 289 000 tonnes of CO2 in comparison to road transports.

Reducing emissions

Smarter logistics

Moving transport from road to rail is key for reducing CO2. Rail transport is more efficient, which makes it a more economical alternative for climate as well as business. So why do we settle for lorries when it comes to import and export between the capital of Norway and its major export harbour in Sweden? Developing double tracks secures import and export capacity to and from Norway and Europe. It makes business sense – and saves 289 000 tonnes of CO2 in comparison to road transports.

Keeping our promises to the international society.

International unity

International security

Our critical infrastructure must be developed to fulfil our promises in a new international security landscape. Heavy rescue equipment, or artillery and defense equipment must be able to move across borders without delay to secure partner support when needed.Today, this defence critical railway is one single track between Oslo and Gothenburg. This severely hampers our abilities to assist each other in case of an emergency or attack.

Project details and arguments

Oslo – Gothenburg today

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EU funding

The railway development on the Swedish side of the stretch is eligible to financing through Connecting Europe Facilities (CEF) with 50%

TIMES MORE SUSTAINABLE THAN DIESELTRUCKS

Railway transport is a low emission alternative to road transport. Electric trains travel 30.000 times longer than trucks, when comparing carbon dioxide emissions.

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TRAIN FREIGHT ON THE STRETCH

Freight transport takes place almost exclusively by truck, which means increased emissions, pollution and congestion on the road. We aim to divert more transportation to the railway.

hours reduced travel time

Today, the route takes 4 hours by passenger train and up to 7 hours by freight train. With the double tracks, we can reduce that travel time to 2.5 hours

RAilway stretch in total

The Gothenburg – Oslo railway line is 350 km,
170 km in Norway and 180 km in Sweden, and lies along the ScandMed TEN-T corridor.

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single track

Right now there are bottlenecks forming on most of the single track stretch. The ambition is to build double tracks for the entire route.

Content navigation

Brief Overview

A one-pager on issues and potentials of the railway between Olso and Gothenburg

Details and arguments

The double-track railway project is eligible for EU funding and will benefit the entire STRING megaregion

News & reports

Read news about the project and full reports related to the Oslo-GBG railway development.

Oslo – Göteborg TODAY

Description of the history and current state of the railway stretch

Brief overview: The final link in the STRING megaregion

The OECD recommends Northern Europe join forces and develop sustainable transport infrastructure to support the green transition and innovation. This will leverage collaboration in green tech innovation, investment and export as a primary driver in prosperity and welfare for the STRING Megaregion in the decades to come.

In 2029 the Fehmarn Belt will open the connection that solves one of Europe’s worst bottlenecks today, the one between Copenhagen and Hamburg. When Fehmarn-Belt is inaugurated in 2029 the pressure will increase north in the railway corridor. There is no plan today for how Sweden will take care of the changed traffic flows that will be a consequence of the Fehmarn connection, and the bottleneck one the Oslo-Gothenburg route will be increasingly problematic for transport flow between Sweden and its two largest trading partners, Germany and Norway.

It is time to get concrete about the Oslo-Gothenburg double track railway, and open up one of the last remaining bottlenecks in the STRING corridor between Oslo and Hamburg.

The railway stretch between Oslo and Gothenburg is situated on the Scandinavian-Mediterranean (ScanMed) corridor, and has been identified by the EU as a bottleneck to accessibility in the whole corridor. Travel times for train passengers on this route far surpasses that of road transport. It currently takes twice as long for a freight train going from Oslo to Gothenburg, as it does for a lorry traveling by road.
Of the seven trains daily frequenting the stretch in each direction, only three travel at full speed (around 85 km / pr.h). Furthermore, close to 97% of all freight between the two destinations happen via road transport, with over 70% of lorries returning empty. This presents two main challenges; 1) rail accessibility and travel times on the entire ScanMed corridor, all the way down to Hamburg becomes suboptimal; 2) the environmental effects of passenger travel in the stretch are far worse than with a well-functioning railway system. Hence, the bottleneck created by only having a single track between Oslo and Gothenburg is a huge infrastructural disadvantage for the entire ScandMed corridor, prolonging travel times and hindering accessibility for the entire megaregion.
Because of the regional implications of the underdeveloped railway stretch, the project is eligible for 50% EU funding through CEF (Connecting Europe Facility)
The stretch between Oslo and Gothenburg needs double tracks to create economic growth and improve our environment. With continuously stricter EU and national emission goals, we are dependent on well-functioning rail infrastructure. Electrical and hydrogen vehicles are a huge step in the right direction toward cutting emissions, but they do not have the range or efficiency to replace traveling by air and quick trips between cities and rural areas. Nor do they solve the issue of congestion on to roads. Pushing for new rail solutions is therefore the only sustainable alternative for mid-length travels.

STRING is engaging with stakeholders at the local, regional and national levels to strengthen the railway networks and propose new solutions to counter the increasing road traffic. We work to put this on the national agenda in all of our member countries, and as an urgent topic to be addressed in Brussels.

Why should we build double tracks between Oslo and Gothenburg?

When Fehmarn-Belt is inaugurated in 2029, the pressure will increase north in the railway corridor. The Oslo-Gothenburg route will increasingly obstruct transport flows, and remain a bottleneck between Sweden and its two largest trading partners, Germany and Norway. It is time to get concrete about the Oslo-Gothenburg double track railway, and open up one of the last remaining bottlenecks in the STRING corridor between Oslo and Hamburg.

REDUCES EMISSIONS

Shifting to rail reduces emissions from transport. The TÖI report calculates CO2 savings for the year of 2040 to 2062 to be between 66,000 tons and 289,000 tons.

COST BENEFITS

Many of Norway and Sweden’s most crucial export partners being located in the EU. Establishing a connection to this network should thus be a key priority to remain competitive on the global stage.

FINANCING OPPORTUNITIES

The cost of establishing 100 kilometers on the Swedish side is estimated to ca. 18.5 billion SEK. Sweden can apply for 50 percent financing for cross border links through CEF (Connecting Europe Facility)

REMOVE BOTTLENECK

Double tracks between Oslo and Gothenburg, will reduce transport time for goods from 7,5 to 4 hours during night and to 5 hours during daytime.

BOOST COLLABORATION

Double track Oslo-Gothenburg will boost collaboration between Norway and Sweden

A STEP TOWARDS A MEGAREGION

The STRING corridor from Hamburg to Oslo is a critical venue to connect this megaregion to Europe.

FEHMARN BELT FIXED LINK

Provides a window of opportunity to break down silo thinking across borders in the public and private sector to increase competitiveness. 

News and reports

Railway: Gothenburg-Oslo

Railway: Gothenburg-Oslo

The current railway stretch between Oslo and Gothenburg lies along the ScandMed TEN-T corridor, and has been identified by the EU as a bottleneck to accessibility in the whole corridor. Travel times for train passengers on this route far surpasses that of road...

Högnivåmöte om forbindelsen Oslo-Göteborg

Högnivåmöte om forbindelsen Oslo-Göteborg

Göteborgs Stad och Västra Götalandsregionen till riksdagen för bättre förbindelser med Norge Axel Josefson (M), kommunstyrelsen ordförande i Göteborg och Kristina Jonäng (C), regionråd och ordförande i regionutvecklingsnämnden, besöker i morgon torsdag 28 oktober...

Oslo – Gothenburg today

The Gothenburg – Oslo railway line is 350 km, 170 km in Norway and 180 km in Sweden. The route goes via Trollhättan, Öxnered, Kornsjö (border) to Halden on to Oslo. In Sweden, the southern part between Gothenburg and Trollhättan / Öxnered has double tracks since 2012, the double track is geometrically adapted to 250 km / h. The intermediate part between Öxnered and Moss is single track with long travel times and low capacity. According to Norway’s plans, four tracks / double tracks will be expanded from Oslo to Ski 2022/2023 and double tracks through Moss during the period 2022-2027. Between Ski and Moss there is a double track, which was built in the 1990s. For the track further through Fredrikstad, Sarpsborg and to Halden, planning is in progress. The average speed unit for the track is 114km / h, which is partly explained by the fact that today the track is 60% single track.

The current railway stretch between Oslo and Gothenburg lies along the ScandMed TEN-T corridor, and has been identified by the EU as a bottleneck to accessibility in the whole corridor. Travel times for train passengers on this route far surpasses that of road transport. It currently takes twice as long for a freight train going from Oslo to Gothenburg, as it does for a lorry traveling by road.

Today:

  • Twice as long travel time for freight trains as for trucks
  • 3 hours by car – up to 9 hours by freight train
  • Increase in road transport – but not trains
  • 2500 trucks cross the border daily via road
  • 97% of the journeys from Gothenburg-Oslo travel by car and only 1 percent by train
  • 140,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions from road transport

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