Ringeriksbanen, National transport plan | Billions invested – then the track was scrapped: – We are furious

Three days before the National Transport Plan (NTP) was presented, Transport Minister Jon-Ivar Nygård (Ap) appeared in the newspaper Hallingdølen. Then the news is presented about a large-scale road project in Buskerud county: The government will spend NOK 13 billion on the new E16 between Skaret and Hønefoss.

– We are now embarking on the road known as the “death road”. It is a road with many accidents, which we believe cannot wait, said Nygård about the E16 through Hole to NRK.

But what this really meant was that the original project that Ringerike had been promised – and not least planned for, way and train between Sandvika and Hønefoss, was scrapped.

– We have to calm down

This has caused people in the region to seethe with rage.

– We are furious. We are so angry that we have to calm down before we go to the meeting to discuss how we should respond to the politicians, says Ivar Gunnar Lia, who is organized in the activist group Banevokterne, to Nettavisen.

He promises that the politicians will not get away this time. Mayor Morten Lafton (Ap) in Jevnaker can confirm that.

– Now we take up the fight.

Gharahkhani: – Ap is the guarantor

It was just before the general election in 2021 that Masud Gharahkhani (Ap) said that they would be the guarantor for the important transport project Ringeriksbanen.

– It is important for the climate and for Ringerike. There have been enough broken promises from the government we have now, Gharakhani said, pointing to the then blue government.

– The Labor Party guarantees the commissioning of the Ringeriktunnel and in 2022, Gharahkhani said in an advertisement for Ap on Facebook.

– Outside the democratic rules of the game

But that was not to be. In NTP it says dryly: “Ringeriksbanen will be returned to Bane NOR and evaluated more closely in light of the new long-distance train strategy”.

This means that there will be no train route now. The local politicians are in a state of disarray after the breach of promise.

– We have stood our ground and worked for this. We trusted that this would come. We feel thrown under the bus, says party colleague and mayor Morten Lafton (Ap) in Jevnaker to Nettavisen.

– We have been lied to. Lying like Gharakhani is outside the democratic rules of the game, says Lia.

Deputy mayor Stian Bakken (Sp) in Ringerike municipality believes this is the worst he has seen in Norwegian transport policy.

– Transport Minister Jon-Ivar Nygård welcomes home to Østfold, says Bakken.

The project that never comes to fruition

The train project from Sandvika in Bærum municipality to Hønefoss is the story of a project where the views and budgets have been large, but which have never materialized into train tracks.

As early as 50 years ago – at least – the politicians had plans to build a track between Sandvika and Hønefoss, according to the website of the state-owned company Nye veier.

To make a long story short: Political decisions have been made and 2.3 billion have been spent on planning, reports Bergens Tidende. The state has bought 33 homes, cottages and farms – and a campsite – to make room for the development.

This has cost NOK 200 million, project development manager Vidar Stormark at the state-owned company Nye veier told Nettavisen.

– The municipalities have spent three billion

But the money hasn’t just flown there.

The municipalities in the region have spent billions to facilitate the project that was to come, according to deputy mayor Bakken;

– We have facilitated by increasing the capacity within schools, water and sewerage, for the most part. The administration says we have spent close to three billion in the Ringeriks municipalities. That is in addition to the money that has gone into the planning. Then you put it all in a drawer. That would never happen in private.

He says that it will be impossible to conduct municipal politics when there is no predictability.

– It also leads to contempt for politicians. Why should people in Ringerike vote in a general election when the politicians say one thing before the election and do something else in government?

Not given up

But Storting politician Masud Gharahkhani says – vaguely – that the election promise has not been broken.

– Morten, I and many of us have wanted the Ringeriksbanen. But it didn’t turn out that way now. The Ringeriksbanen has not been shelved, we must continue to work for it together, says Gharahkhani to Nettavisen.

– At the same time, we should be happy that Ringerike and Hallingdal will receive a total of 18 billion for a huge road upgrade: E16 Skaret, RV7 Ørgenvika-Kittilsvik and E16 Nymoen-Eggemoen. In addition, RV7 and RV52 are priority improvement sections in the new plan.

This will mean an enormous amount to the citizens with both better traffic safety, accessibility and jobs, he says.

– Politics is about solving challenges that people experience in everyday life.

– Tough choices

Transport Minister Jon-Ivar Nygård will not comment on whether he is welcoming home to Østfold. Nygård tells Nettavisen that the government has had to prioritize.

– The government has had to make some tough choices, the consequence of which is that we do not achieve everything we want to achieve.

Nygård further explains that the so-called road to death must be improved.

– It is necessary to start developing the stretch, which the government shows by prioritizing almost 14 billion for the project.

This move makes it possible to get started with the joint project, says Nygård. The train section in Østfold is prioritized based on the recommendation of the Norwegian Railway Directorate. As far as money is concerned, the route is more profitable.

– These are not equal sizes economically, so that prioritizing the track in Østfold would not be sufficient to finance the railway part of FRE16, which had a cost of NOK 39 billion.

The total cost of rail and road in Ringerike would be NOK 53 billion, says the minister.

SV: – We have an agreement

But SV are by no means satisfied and have clear expectations.

– We have a clear budget agreement which states that the Ringeriksbanen will be a joint project with rail and road. They are breaking this agreement. I have asked the minister to clean up this mess, says Storting representative Mona Fagerås (SV) to Nettavisen.

Fagerås sits in the transport and communications department.

– I expect them to sort things out. Because this doesn’t work. We have a deal.

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