Lund light railway receives financial backing to proceed

Trafikverket, the Swedish transport administration, has proposed to co-finance the construction of Lund light railway. The bid allows work on Tramway C-ESS to begin later this year.

The tramway is incorporated within 24 public transport proposal packages put to Trafikverket by municipalities on a local and regional level for co-financing.

Trafikverket announced on the 15 April that Lund Municipality would receive funding for the tramway and gave the go ahead for construction to begin later this year. Five additional packages were given approval in March including bus projects in Malmö, Helsingborg, Karlstad, Gävle and Umeå.

The focus of the light railway is to provide a sustainable urban transport system. Emma Berg Inger (MP), Deputy Chairman of the city of Lund, commented on Trafikverket’s announcement: This is an important milestone in the Lund Tramway. But obviously it is a way to go before the tramway can begin.”

Trafikverket has the capacity to provide SEK 500 million per year during the period 2015-2018 for sustainable transport packages. A further six municipalities are in discussion with Trafikverket, a decision on the proposals will be announced in a report on the 20^th May 2015.