Sweden faces a logistical paradox. We need to transport more goods, whilst at the same time the railways and roads are under heavy strain and Sweden is now entering a period of maintenance on a historically unprecedented scale. Nine out of ten goods imported into or exported from Sweden have at some point travelled by sea. Yet we still treat shipping as a complement to road and rail, rather than as part of the solution to their capacity problems.
In 2026, the Swedish Transport Administration will carry out more track works affecting traffic than in any previous year. The national plan for 2026–2037 also involves an extensive programme of upgrades to both railways and roads. This is necessary. However, over the coming years, the works will also affect capacity and accessibility.
We cannot solve this simply by building more infrastructure and hoping for more tracks and more lorries. We must make use of the entire transport system.
On land, roads and railways are competing for capacity. Our inland lakes offer considerable capacity and potential that is not being fully utilised.
The Swedish Transport Administration has itself identified Lake Vänern and Lake Mälaren as areas with great potential for increased freight transport by water, and notes that freight which could be transported by water otherwise risks putting a strain on road and rail networks.
It’s time to rethink things.
We should not build the transport system as three separate systems, but rather use roads, railways and maritime transport as a single network of opportunities, where they complement one another and create capacity.
A single vessel can replace hundreds of lorry journeys. Lakes Mälaren and Vänern provide direct access to some of Sweden’s most important industrial and consumer regions. The ports around the lakes are connected to both road and rail networks. The conditions are in place here for an efficient intermodal logistics chain that strengthens Sweden’s competitiveness, industry and resilience. At the same time, emissions can be reduced as more freight is transported by water.
Sveriges Insjöhamnar therefore wants the next government to implement a programme to boost inland waterway transport:
1. Modernise pilotage for inland waterway transport
The current pilotage regulations are not suited to modern inland waterway transport and can make certain shipments unnecessarily expensive. We want to modernise the exemption rules, introduce land-based pilotage on Lakes Vänern and Mälaren, and improve coordination between the relevant authorities.
2. Ensure that investments have an impact
Sweden has invested heavily in locks and waterways. The Government must therefore also remove the bottlenecks that prevent these investments from being utilised to the full. We want government investments to stay on schedule, for the locks in Trollhättan to be completed, for the investments in the Hjulsta Bridge to be brought forward, and for the government to ensure the necessary infrastructure, such as icebreaking.
3. Set competitive fees
The charging system must make it easier, not more difficult, to shift freight from road to sea. Pilotage charges need to better reflect the conditions of inland waterway transport and the long pilotage routes. We want to see charges that support the modal shift of freight and provide shipping companies and freight buyers with long-term and predictable conditions.
Because, with the railways and roads undergoing renovation and already under heavy strain, we have a simple choice:
Either we continue to put pressure on the same parts of the transport system, or we start making use of Sweden’s entire transport network and the capacity that already exists. The outcome will be better for industry, the business sector, the climate and Sweden’s resilience.
Let more freight be transported by sea.
Sweden’s Inland Ports, a collaboration between
Andreas Andersson, Managing Director of Mälarhamnar
Magnus Eriksson, Managing Director of Vänerhamn