The heavy rainfall in early September led to two train derailments. One occurred at Stugusjön near Skorped in Örnsköldsviks municipality, the other near Prästmon in Kramfors municipality.
Sweco has now, on behalf of the industry organization Skogsindustrierna, analyzed possible causes of the derailments. The conclusion is that steep terrain in combination with the railways' lack of capacity to drain all water is behind.
The train derailments could have occurred regardless of the surrounding forest's age or if the areas had been recently clear-cut - the difference would have been marginal. The rainfall amounts were so extreme that no soil could have absorbed all the water, according to the analysis.
The report shows how important it is that infrastructure in vulnerable areas is maintained to withstand future extreme weather, according to Skogsindustrierna.
"We are now looking forward to upcoming government investigations that can provide an even clearer picture of how different factors affected the infrastructure during the extreme weather on September 6-7", says Elin Swedlund, responsible for transport issues at Skogsindustrierna, in a press release.
