The story of a new railway called ”Ostlänken” : Why do high speed trains come to Östergötland?

High speed trains are very popular in Europe. In Sweden there has been a long political debate about the necessity of them. In 2008 there was a strong political no to the idea. However after some years of debate the government decided to build a new high speed railway between Järna (south of Stockholm) and Linköping, called “Ostlänken”. This study is about the decision-making process of an investment of 35 billion SEK involving a new railway during 2017 up to 2028. This study includes interviews with prominent politicians from different parties. The first issue concerns what arguments were used to promote the new railway, and how the local and regional politicians work to agree on a common stand point. Special interest is focused on the Right party (Moderaterna), who lead the coalition that governed Sweden from 2006 to 2014. In sum, four main issues were in focus. One conclusion is that a lack of railway-capacity between Stockholm and Linköping is important for the decision. Another issue is that “arbetslinjen” played an important role. The political interest in investments in infrastructure has raised sharply which also is positive for “Ostlänken”. A fourth issue is that globalization requires better connections to big airports