The North Bothnia Line (Swedish: Norrbotniabanan) is a proposed high-speed railway line between Umeå Central Station and Luleå Central Station in Sweden. The line would be 270 kilometres (170 mi) long and be a northern extension of the Bothnia Line, which opened in 2010. The planned extension is expected to improve accessibility between larger cities along Sweden's coast and handle 1.6 million passengers per year.[1]
Currently the area is served by the Main Line Through Upper Norrland, which is located inland and with branch lines connected to the various towns along the coast. To the north, the line will connect with the Main Line Through Upper Norrland and onwards along the Haparanda Line to connect to the Barents Region and the Finnish railway network.[2] It will also connect to the Iron Ore Line. The project is estimated to cost 23 billion Swedish krona (SEK).[3]
The line will connect to Stockholm via the Bothnia Line, the Ådalen Line and the East Coast Line. The Main Line Through Upper Norrland has a maximum permitted train weight of 1,100 tonnes (1,100 LT; 1,200 ST) per Rc locomotive,[4] while the North Bothnia Line will be built for 1,600 tonnes (1,600 LT; 1,800 ST) and will reduce transport distance by 70 to 110 kilometres (43 to 68 mi) for many freight routes.[3] An upgrade of the Main Line has been considered, but because of the curvy right-of-way most of the line would have to be built in an all-new right-of-way, which would raise costs to about the same as the North Bothnia Line. In addition, the Main Line's inland route makes it unsuitable for regional passenger services and gives longer distances.[5] Travel time from Umeå to Luleå for passenger trains will be 90 minutes, compared to over 4 hours for buses or trains today.[6]
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