The Västlänken train tunnel through Gothenburg will be delayed by several years – and will be significantly more expensive, the Swedish Transport Administration announces.
The plan was for the Västlänken, described by the Swedish Transport Administration as “one of Northern Europe’s largest and most complicated infrastructure projects”, to be completed in 2026. But since the contract with the contractor, who was in charge of a partial stage, was canceled, it has become clear that the schedule would not be kept . The only question was how long the delay would be.
Now the Swedish Transport Administration announces that the plan is for the entire Västlänken to be put into operation in the years 2029-2032, with a most likely completion date of 2030. However, parts of the project will be able to be put into use earlier.
The bill will also be more expensive. The original budget was assessed at 2009 price level at SEK 20 billion. The new assessment is that the price tag lands somewhere between 24.1 and 27.1 billion – with a probable cost of 25.7 billion. In today’s money value, it is 38.5 billion.
Overall, this means an increase in cost of around 20 to 35 percent.