Freight Transport - The Infrastructure in Sweden

Sweden has an excellent transport infrastructure forThe 10 mile bridge and tunnel across the straits of
freight forwarding as the government hasOresund from Malmo in Sweden to Copenhagen in
consistently recognised its vital importance toDenmark is regarded as one of the most significant
economic prosperity and prioritised its modernisationtransport infrastructure developments in Europe in
and development.recent years.
The railroads in Sweden have 13,000 kilometres ofIndeed, nowhere is Sweden's commitment to its
track, of which roughly a third are privately owned.freight transport infrastructure more evident than in
The rail network includes a fast rail link betweenits road transport policy. In 2006, the Transport
Arlanda airport and the centre of Stockholm, makingResearch Arena conference was staged in Goteborg
freight transport fast and efficient.to allow participants to see some developments that
There are a number of major ports and harboursare regarded as the world's most advanced road
that include state of the art terminals and offertransport developments and will have a significant
container handling facilities. These include Gaevle,impact on the international freight market,
Goteborg, Malmo, Sundsvall, Helsingborg, Halmstad,revolutionising the intelligence available to the shipping
Kalmar and Stockholm.company.
The Swedish merchant fleet, with 165 modern ships,These focus on the use of advanced information and
is also regarded as an economic priority by thecommunications technology to provide intelligent
government and the Swedish international freightvehicle and transport systems, designed to improve
industry as a whole benefits from the considerablelogistics. Of benefit both to the freight transport
government support of its shipping companies andmarket and passenger transport. The new
infrastructure.technology will facilitate shorter journey times and
The domestic air market in Sweden was deregulatedalso more efficient use of fuel. These will not only
in 1991 and since then a number of Swedish airlinesgive Sweden a competitive edge in the short term,
have been competing to serve the internationalthey are also likely to serve as a blueprint for
freight markets by carrying cargo. These airlinestransport systems worldwide, heralding a new era of
include Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS),productivity and optimised efficiency in freight
Transwede and Malmo Aviation. SAS is, in fact, jointlyservices.
owned by Sweden, Denmark and Norway, withSweden is also working on effectively using
Sweden owning nearly half. Of this stake, theinformation and communication technology to
Swedish government owns 50%. SAS is committedimprove the competitiveness of its rail system for
to air transport liberalisation and has pioneered manyfreight forwarding. In Sweden, as in any other
strategic partnerships to drive forward its 'open skies'countries, rail has lost share of the freight forwarding
policy. The liberalisation of the air transport marketmarket to road haulage in recent years and this is an
creates a further advantage to the freight servicesarea where Swedish rail operators are keen to build
industry.revenues. It is therefore likely that Sweden will also
There are also 164,000 kilometres of paved roads inlead the way in 'intelligent trains'.
Sweden, of which 1500 kilometres are expressways,These improvements will combine to see a picture of
and 2000 kilometres of navigable waterways. Thecontinuing innovation and development in the
canny freight company makes a full analysis of thetransport infrastructure in Sweden, ensuring that the
various routes and options available for freightfreight services industry in the country stays at the
forwarding and ensures that the customer is thecutting edge.
ultimate winner.