Overall conditions for railways

The election manifesto requires that the state increases its control over infrastructure and that publicly important operations and infrastructure that have been privatized are taken back. A shared state organization that owns the railway, maintains it in-house and is responsible for planning and pricing is exactly that, and the party programme states that shared ownership forms and coordination are crucial. The plan also wants to expand the railway and challenge EU rules that stand in the way.

• reclaim privatized infrastructuredecisive»Det är hög tid att agera och ta tillbaka den samhällsviktiga verksamhet och infrastruktur som har privatiserats.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“It is high time to act and take back the publicly important operations and infrastructure that have been privatized.”
• commonly owned railway»ägandeformer och samordning är avgörande för att trafiken och under« (party programme ↗)“ownership forms and coordination are crucial for traffic and under”
• state control over infrastructure»Staten måste öka sin kontroll över infrastruktur och resurser som behövs för att genomföra klimatomställningen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The state must increase its control over infrastructure and resources needed to implement the climate transition.”
• expanded railway»som bland annat innehåller en utbyggnad av järnvägen.« (party programme ↗)“which among other things includes an expansion of the railway.”

The plan wants society to move forward positions and take back control, and the party programme establishes that democracy has priority before market and that operations form shall be tested after results. Massive investments in railways and a shift of transport from road to rail speak for the state taking collective responsibility for infrastructure, planning and pricing. A joint state railway organisation is not explicitly mentioned, so the support is derived.

• democracy's prioritydecisive»Demokratin har därför företräde före marknaden.« (party programme ↗)“Democracy therefore has priority before market.”
• society takes back control»Samhället ska flytta fram positionerna för att ta tillbaka kontrollen över utvecklingen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Society shall move forward positions to take back control over development.”
• investments in railways»Genom massiva investeringar i både ny och befintlig järnväg kommer fler att kunna resa klimatsmart med tåg.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Through massive investments in both new and existing railways more will be able to travel climate-smart with train.”
• shift to rail»vägtransporter ersätts med järnvägstransporter och sjötrafik.« (party programme ↗)“road transport is replaced with railway transport and sea transport.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The party programme states that the railway system needs to be reviewed and in some respects re-regulated for optimal and long-term functioning of the transport system, and that society itself must direct and finance the expansion of infrastructure systems. Train operators must also coordinate fares and ticket booking. The counter-proposal's requirement for a unified state organization that owns, maintains, sets prices and plans railways is precisely the societal control the plan seeks.

• re-regulation of railwaysdecisive»Järnvägssystemet behöver ses över och till vissa« (party programme ↗)“The railway system needs to be reviewed and in some”
• society directs infrastructure»Samhället måste själv styra och stå för utbyggnad« (party programme ↗)“Society must itself direct and finance the expansion”
• coordinated prices and booking»måste samordna taxor, biljettbeställning och« (party programme ↗)“must coordinate fares, ticket booking and”
• expanded rail capacity»bygga ut och rusta upp järnvägsnätet för snabba tåg i hela landet och skynda på bygget av nya stambanor för höghastighetståg.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“build and upgrade the railway network for fast trains throughout the country and accelerate the construction of new mainlines for high-speed trains.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The party programme establishes that Sweden must have a market economy free from centrally planned directives, that competition is an important driving force, and that public activities can be advantageously opened to competition. A joint state organisation that owns, maintains, prices, and books all railway traffic is the opposite of this. The plan, however, wants to make a big push on railways and new track capacity, but the decisive commitment speaks against the counter-proposal's demands.

• competition as driving forcedecisive»Konkurrens är en viktig drivkraft för utvecklingen av marknadsekonomin.« (party programme ↗)“Competition is an important driving force for the development of the market economy.”
• competitive public activities»Offentlig verksamhet kan med fördel konkurrensutsättas för att ge det privata näringslivet möjlighet att skapa« (party programme ↗)“Public activities can be advantageously opened to competition to give the private business sector the opportunity to create”
• major railway investment»Vi vill rusta upp regionala järnvägar, bygga nya stambanor från norr till söder, höja standarden på det nationella stambanenätet i hela landet och storsatsa på morgondagens tågtrafik — för klimatets och landsbygdens bästa.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to upgrade regional railways, build new main lines from north to south, raise the standard of the national main line network throughout the country, and make a big push on tomorrow's train traffic — for the sake of climate and rural areas.”

flags: citat_blockerat

The party programme establishes that the public sector shall only operate commercial activities in the case of strong public interest and that the state shall not own companies in competitive sectors, and that procurement shall provide low costs, high quality, and stimulate competition. That the state takes back control through a common organization that owns, maintains, prices, and books all railway traffic runs counter to that line. The plan, however, shares the problem picture that railways need renovation and that bottlenecks must be removed.

• limited state ownershipdecisive»Staten ska inte äga flygbolag, banker och telebolag.« (party programme ↗)“The state shall not own airlines, banks, and telecommunications companies.”
• limited public operations»Det offentliga ska endast driva affärsverksamhet om det finns ett starkt samhällsintresse.« (party programme ↗)“The public sector shall only operate commercial activities if there is a strong public interest.”
• competitive procurement»som ger skattebetalarna låga kostnader, hög kvalitet, säkrar likabehandling och stimulerar« (party programme ↗)“which provides taxpayers low costs, high quality, ensures equal treatment, and stimulates”
• address railway bottlenecks»Vi vill bygga bort järnvägsnätets flaskhalsar och så att tågen går i tid här och nu i stället för att lägga hundratals miljarder på en höghastighetsjärnväg som inte är klar ens om 20 år.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to remove the railway network's bottlenecks so that trains run on time here and now instead of spending hundreds of billions on a high-speed railway that is not even ready in 20 years.”

The plan divides responsibility so that the public handles the infrastructure while the traffic itself is operated in competition, and requires that public operations as far as possible are built on absence of monopoly and that operations that are not official administration are procured in competition. The counter-proposal's demand for a common state organisation that owns, maintains in-house, sets prices and handles all booking means the opposite. However, the state's responsibility for the investment level in the railway remains according to the plan.

• absence of monopolydecisive»verksamhetsformer ska så långt möjligt bygga på frånvaro av monopol.« (party programme ↗)“operational forms shall as far as possible be built on absence of monopoly.”
• traffic in competition»Själva trafiken bör bedrivas i konkurrens.« (party programme ↗)“The traffic itself should be operated in competition.”
• procurement in competition»Övrig offentlig verksamhet, som inte är myndighetsutövning, bör« (party programme ↗)“Other public operations, which are not official administration, should”
• state responsibility for infrastructure»att investeringsnivån i kommunikationssystemens infrastruktur« (party programme ↗)“that the investment level in communication systems' infrastructure”

The party programme establishes that a large state gives a weaker society and that what can be done as well or better by someone else should not be performed by the public sector. For the state to regain control of the railway through a joint organization that owns, maintains, prices and books it goes against that line. The plan's railway commitment is to upgrade the railway that exists, not to rebuild the ownership structure.

• limited statedecisive»En stor stat leder till ett svagare samhälle.« (party programme ↗)“A large state leads to a weaker society.”
• the public should not do everything»Om något kan göras lika bra eller bättre av« (party programme ↗)“If something can be done as well or better by”
• upgrade over new systems»Rusta upp dagens järnväg i stället för att satsa på höghastighetståg som riskerar att vara omoderna redan innan de är klara« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Upgrade today's railway instead of betting on high-speed trains that risk being outdated before they are ready”
• competition is promoted»främja konkurrensen« (party programme ↗)“promote competition”

The plan states that essential parts of infrastructure should be under state control and demands that the road and rail network are upgraded throughout the country, while at the same time emphasising the importance of the transport system for total defence. This argues for the counter-proposal's demand that the state regains control of the railways. However, the plan rejects expensive new construction projects and does not want to direct transport between transport modes, which is why the conclusion is uncertain.

• state control over infrastructuredecisive»försvar och väsentliga delar av vår infrastruktur bör stå under statlig kontroll« (party programme ↗)“defence and essential parts of our infrastructure should be under state control”
• upgraded rail network»Rusta upp väg- och järnvägsnätet i hela landet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Upgrade the road and rail network throughout the country”
• transport in total defence»Vi behöver även stärka den svenska sjöfarten för att säkra arbets- och utbildningstillfällen men inte minst för att sjöfarten är en del av totalförsvaret.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We also need to strengthen Swedish shipping to secure jobs and educational opportunities but not least because shipping is part of total defence.”
• no expensive new construction projects»Stoppa planerna på dyr höghastighetsjärnväg mellan storstäderna« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stop plans for expensive high-speed rail between major cities”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.