The new Haparanda Railway Line: A Follow-up on Parts of the Projects EIA

Abstract:

The new railway between Boden and Haparanda is a project about restoration an old railway track and building a new, to cut down on the total distance of the railway. The Haparanda line is an important link between the Swedish, Finnish and Russian railway systems; it is the only railway connecting the countries. Pre-studies, Railway plans and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) have been carried out before the work started. Completion of the projectis expected by summer 2012.

The Swedish Transport Administration has the responsibility for the construction and maintenance of the railway system in Sweden, and so also the new Haparanda line project. The Administration consists of different sections. One section is responsible for investing in new projects and seeing them through to completion (Investering) and after the completion the responsibility is in the hands of the maintenance section (Trafik). For the Haparanda line project the hand over between the two sections is getting closer and EIA follow-ups are now carried out to make sure that all required measures from the EIA has been implemented. Such measures include grade separated wildlife crossings and crossings for recreational purposes.

In this thesis an EIA follow-up of the green aspects of the EIA for the Haparanda line projectis conducted, looking at issues such as wildlife crossings and re-plantation. The results show that certain measures have been taken away and that even the EIA itself has faults. Critique is given to the constructions of wildlife crossings that don't meet expectations. Before the track changes hands at the Swedish Transport Administration problems of what should be planted around wildlife crossings have to be adjusted. Especially the issues concerning what natural materials are need to be better defined.