The Western Link is financed half by the state and half by the region, where the revenue from the congestion tax has been an important part. The Swedish Transport Administration's original proposal was that the congestion tax would be levied for another seven years, until 2044, to finance half of the skyrocketing costs - something that made local politicians very angry.
A major row broke out between the Municipality of Gothenburg and the Swedish Transport Administration, and now the government has come up with a solution. The state is contributing an additional 7.6 billion kronor, said Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) at a press conference.
We are therefore not moving forward with the proposal to extend the congestion tax, said Kristersson.
Carlson: Shouldn't lose momentum
Both Minister of Infrastructure and Housing Andreas Carlson (KD) and Dennis Dioukarev, Member of Parliament and member of the Finance Committee for the Sweden Democrats, say that the continued plan is for the project to be co-financed between the state and the region.
We are open to the possibility of co-financing being done in ways other than through congestion tax, said Dioukarev.
The Swedish Transport Administration is tasked with negotiating a financing solution for the Western Link, which is to be completed in June 2027.
But in order not to lose further momentum, the government is now pushing for 7.6 billion kronor to continue construction while the costs are being worked out, said Andreas Carlson.
“No one can be satisfied”
The Western Link was originally estimated to cost 20 billion kronor in 2009 money, equivalent to approximately 27.9 billion kronor in today's money. According to the latest forecast, the bill is estimated to end up at a whopping 71 billion kronor.
"No one can be happy with that - that the costs have skyrocketed. It is important that all parties involved take their responsibility," said Andreas Carlson.
The goal is for the Western Link to be fully completed by 2030.
On Sunday, the government presented a series of infrastructure investments in Western Sweden, in addition to the extra billions for the Western Link:
The Western Main Line will be strengthened by expanding the Olskroken-Alingsås section and increasing its capacity. The government is investing SEK 4.2 billion in the project.
SEK 513 million is being invested in improving capacity at the Värmlandsbanan connection to the Western Main Line.
The E60/E40 is being expanded at the Kallebäck junction for SEK 334 million.
The Killekullebahn is being renovated and partially electrified, SEK 600 million.
