Examination of Witnesses (Questions 40-50)
MR INGEMAR
LUNDIN
3 NOVEMBER 2004
Q40 Ian Lucas: You have opened up a lot
of new stations. Where has the funding come from for that? Is
that part of your general budget or have you made specific applications
for grants from government?
Mr Lundin: The major stations
are paid for by the users which are the operators, which also
includes a long distance bus service. They have to pay a fee for
using those big stations. It is not a big number of stations.
We have four or five in our county. The small stations are more
like a platform. We are talking about investments in platforms
and things like that. It has been a responsibility for the municipalities.
We have also in our plans just for platform areas a special subsidy
which means that 50% of the cost has come from the municipality
and 50% has been from government.
Q41 Ian Lucas: The smaller stations are
more platforms than buildings? They are not used for community
use in addition to being used as platforms?
Mr Lundin: Most of the old stations
are gone or are private houses nowadays. We are using platforms
and facilities on board the platforms—shelters, for example.
Q42 Ian Lucas: You mentioned that 60%
of your population can travel two kilometres to the station. How
do they travel to the station?
Mr Lundin: Most of them are walking
to the station. I do not have a figure but that is part of the
success. It is much more difficult to find a user that must first
have a bus and then a train.
Q43 Chairman: It looks as though, with
the new rolling stock, you had to replace the old rolling stock
and you chose a completely different system, a different engine
and a different design and different sizes. Is that the case?
Mr Lundin: Yes. It is quite interesting
that in the 1988 Transport Act we were given the old rolling stock
free of charge. We also got a subsidy of the size that the state
railway had before for a 10 year period until 2000.
Q44 Chairman: You have the subsidy that
would have gone to the rolling stock in the national railway?
Mr Lundin: We have used some of
this subsidy by making an investment in refurbishment. This is
quite a small investment compared to buying new rolling stock.
For perhaps 10 years it has helped us to have a train that looks
quite new inside.
Q45 Chairman: Its bigger seats are more
comfortable?
Mr Lundin: It is much more comfortable.
You can lean back the seats, for example.
Chairman: We have a much more unique
approach. We buy very expensive new rolling stock which has smaller
seats, is less comfortable and the lavatories do not work. Apart
from that, we have got it right.
Q46 Ian Lucas: Who maintains the track
in the Swedish system?
Mr Lundin: It is part of the old,
former state railway that is our Railtrack. It is called Banverket.
Most of the employees are on the Railtrack infrastructure.
Q47 Ian Lucas: Do you pay them for maintaining
the track?
Mr Lundin: Yes, we do but in Sweden
we have a decision which we could translate. It should not be
more expensive to use heavy vehicles on track than on road. That
means that we pay about 30% of the cost of investment and maintenance
of the track for our service. From 1985 to 1990 we had to pay
for the cost of the track. That meant that we who had bad tracks
had to pay more than our neighbours who had good tracks. This
is a good system for us because 30% is better than having to pay
100%. It is not a heavy part of the cost, using the tracks.
Q48 Clive Efford: You pay 30% of the
costs of maintaining the track. Where does the remainder come
from?
Mr Lundin: It comes in some way
from the government.
Q49 Clive Efford: It is a heavy subsidy?
Mr Lundin: It is a very heavy
subsidy and it is a very heavy investment. In the new 12 year
plan it is more investment in rail than in roads in Sweden.
Q50 Clive Efford: We have severe problems
with soggy leaves and fine snow that seem to bring our rail system
to a halt on a regular basis. You seem to have more severe weather
than us at times and manage to run a railway. Could you enlighten
us as to how you achieve that?
Mr Lundin: I used to say that
we have recycled British weather. We also have those leaves. It
is a problem for us. We have more forests than you have. October
is a horrible month for us but with the new trains it is not as
big a problem as with the old trains.
Chairman: Mr Lundin, we are enormously
grateful and I am very, very sorry that you lost your case. I
really do apologise for that. Not only do I now know how to pronounce
"Jönköping" but, if you are ever looking for
a part time job, perhaps you would like to come and run some of
our railways. Thank you very much.
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