2004-06-21

Press conference regarding commuting in Uppland

At a press conference on June 21, 2004, investigations were presented regarding commuter rail on the route Uppsala- Arlanda - Upplands Väsby, known as Upplandspendeln.
This project is run jointly by Upplands Lokaltrafik (UL), Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL), Banverket, Luftfartsverket Arlanda and Arlandabanan.

"This is a key issue which must be addressed in order to make Uppsala part of the job market region in which Stockholm is the main magnet," says Mats O Karlsson, chairman of the executive committee for the County Council.

"Upplandspendeln will make a difference in people's everyday lives," says SL chairman Anna Berger-Kettner. This is a key equitability issue that will increase the number of options on the job market for those with low income.

Upplandspendeln is a two-phase project. The first stage involves Upplands Lokaltrafik running commuter trains on the route Uppsala - Upplands Väsby with stops in Bergsbrunna, Alsike, Knivsta and Arlanda. The investigation proposes that the same trains that runs Upptåget on the route Uppsala - Tierp could continue southward. Upptåget and Upplandspendeln would thus become integrated to form one continuous rail system on the route Tierp - Uppsala - Arlanda - Upplands Väsby.
Passengers at stations closer to Stockholm would switch to SL commuter trains in Upplands Väsby.

Stage two of the project involves SL running commuter trains to Knivsta, thus moving the turning point which is currently in Märsta. This means that rail passengers would have two points, Knivsta and Märsta, at which to transfer between UL and SL commuter trains.

For questions regarding this press release, please contact Caj Rönnbäck, Deputy CEO of UL, at 09, Tomas Ahlberg, Strategic Planning, SL, -686 14 05, Gunnar Lundgren, Banverket, phone 08-762 20 20 or Sture Jonsson, Information and Marketing Manager at UL; 018-65 99 08, 2003 th
018-65 99 08 070-212 03 85.

For questions involving municipal involvement, please contact Stefan Nilsson, Uppsala municipality, Mats Eriksson, Knivsta municipality, Lars Sundblad, Sigtuna municipality and Per Lagheim, Upplands Väsby municipality.