Opinions This is a debate post. The post expresses the writer’s views.
Nothing was said about the reopening of Østfoldbanen’s Eastern line between Rakkestad and Sarpsborg in the proposal for the National Transport Plan. However, we in Østfold are not going to give in, and I am glad that there is broad political agreement on this in our county.
Recently, the new board of Jernbaneforum Øst also decided to continue working to get passengers and goods back on the eastern line between Rakkestad and Sarpsborg.
Such a re-opening will be very important to tie together the railway offer in both the inner and outer parts of our county, and thus also further to central parts of Eastern Norway.
Most things are already very well arranged. In many other railway ventures, this involves large investments in the form of development or electrification. Building a railway is something that is both expensive, and relatively large greenhouse gas emissions are linked to the development. Here, the pitch is already in place. The rails are there.
In such a context, only minor improvements are needed to use the track for both passenger and goods transport. The section has also been upgraded with the ERTMS signaling system, which is the most up-to-date signaling system on the railway network in Norway.
A clear message from the business community is that the need and desire for train transport is much greater than the current use. More capacity is needed on the track to make freight transport more predictable and flexible. The eastern line is currently open during periods when the western line is closed. It should be possible to make it permanent.
The Directorate of Railways has previously argued that the traffic base on the section is too low. We wonder about that, all the time we talk here about both urban and rural areas in growth, and where the distances to both neighboring cities, the capital and Europe are short. We are getting more and more people in our county, and it is a common goal for society at large to get more people to travel by public transport. Then we have to constantly strive to get as seamless a public transport service as possible. If you are to take a train from Rakkestad in the direction of Halden/Gøteborg today, you have to take the train to Ski and change to a southbound train there. This obviously means a much longer and more expensive journey, if you want to use the train. Many people then choose the car, both for everyday commuting or the weekend excursion.
Investing in trains is therefore sustainable social development of which we have to have much more. In the long run, a better developed railway network in an increasingly populous area in Eastern Norway will benefit both businesses and residents.
A reopening of the Eastern line between Rakkestad and Sarpsborg for both goods and passenger traffic will contribute to this.
