[ad_1]
Trying to avoid various scandalous projects like Fornebubanen, which now gives the go-ahead.
The message from Minister of Transport Knut Arild Hareide (KrF) was very clear:
It’s the end of the time when you first decided what to build and then let costs skyrocket without consequence.
– He is ready to implement a major reform, Hareide told a news conference on Monday.
Also read: Hareide promises to turn the national transport plan upside down: it sends a devastating message to those who like trains
When the new National Transportation Plan (PNT) comes out in the spring, one of the biggest changes is this: You don’t have to first decide what you want, like a new tunnel or rail, and then figure out how much it costs and how it can work in the practice. Instead, one should First find out the best way to solve a need or problem.
The reason is many examples of huge cost problems and new technologies that can solve things better.
The project that symbolizes the problem
Perhaps the best example of what Hareide wants to avoid is what has happened to Fornebubnanen, which the Storting will immediately formally approve and allocate money.
Also read: The construction of the Fornebu line is already underway, before final approval
The problem to be solved was the following: the main airport on the peninsula outside of Oslo was going to be closed and the area was going to be expanded with housing and industry. To achieve this, the transport capacity had to be increased significantly.
In 2005, Akershus decided that the solution to the problem should be an “automatic railway” from Lysaker, where there is a railway station. For two years, they decided instead that a city rail should be the solution.
But then one started to think big:
– The survey work that followed meant that the Akershus County Municipality in December 2012 decided that a road with a metro standard should be further studied as the only alternative, the county itself described. Thus, it became a joint project with Oslo.
When the project first came to fruition in 2013, the Oslo City Council thought the plan they adopted was a subway from Majorstua to Fornebu that would cost just under 5 billion crowns.
Erna Solberg came to power the same year, where the first electoral promise to the cooperation parties was that they would accept half of the bill.
I forgot that a subway was more than a tunnel
After the project was approved, it turned out that the price estimates they were building on were just plain silly.
It had been “forgotten” that a subway needed stations and new trains, as well as a 20,000 square meter subway car base for the parking of 28 trains.
When the price estimates for the Fornebu line were made, the fact that stations and a large underground wagon room were to be built was not taken into account.
Photo: Facsimile (Fornebubanen)
A year after the municipality of Oslo put its stamp of approval on the plan, it was included in the plans and therefore the price was increased to NOK 10 billion.
Doubling the price had no consequences for the decision to build the field.
New constant cost increases
Over the years, new reasons were constantly found to increase the price estimates.
10 billion became 11.6 billion. And then there were 13.8 billion.
When the decisive quality assurance report (KS2) on the project was published, it was concluded that the price should be NOK 16.2 billion.
Plus VAT. More inflation of 2018.
If inflation is taken into account, the final sum will probably be around NOK 18 billion.
Read also: The price of Fornebubanen: this is how Erna’s prestige project completely got out of control
Price quadrupled: – Not a topic for new thinking
The fact that the state now rethinks transportation projects will have no consequences for Fornebubanen, which has yet to be finally launched:
– This is a municipal project of the county where Oslo and Viken are the client. The state contributes 50 percent of the funds under the 50/50 scheme to large and important local public transportation projects nationwide. Fornebubanen has a long history of political promise, but has now come so far in the process, and is near the start of construction, that it is not an issue to reverse the project and think conceptually new, writes the Ministry of Transport in an email. to Nettavisen.
The former Minister of Transport and Communications is working on new plans
One of those who now expects the entire project to be reconsidered is former Transport Minister Ketil Solvik-Olsen. He now works for Seabroakers, which in turn has ties to Elon Musk’s tunneling company, The Boring Company.
Former Transport Minister Ketil Solvik-Olsen will replace Fornebubanen with a cheaper solution.
Photo: Berit Roald (NTB scanpix / Oslo Municipality)
– If Fornebubanen was built with a solution similar to what The Boring Company does now in Las Vegas, the price could have been cut by more than half and the offer would have been completed more quickly. It amazes me that those who govern Oslo, Viken and the government are not more curious to explore solutions that can bring such great benefits. If you are to take Hareide seriously when it comes to new solutions, cost cuts and technology, then you should start by opening your senses to the opportunities that are right under your nose, Solvik-Olsen tells Nettavisen.
Earlier this summer, it emerged that Solvik-Olsen had met with the Storting. The company wants to replace Fornebubanen with smaller tunnels for autonomous cars and buses.
Also read: The company Elon Musk shows interest in Fornebubanen
Elon Musk presents a test tunnel in Los Angeles.
Photo: Robyn Beck (AFP)
Smaller tunnels will provide faster propulsion and, not least, significantly less mass extraction. They also believe that they get away with physically smaller stations. The company has built a test tunnel in California and is working to complete its first contract in Las Vegas.
– We have offered to do an “apple versus apple” comparison of the current Fornebubanen concept with a Boring Company / Seabrokers solution. Politicians so far have not wanted it. But if you scale the Las Vegas project’s cost figures up to the Fornebubane level, then it should be an interesting “food for thought”, says Solvik-Olsen.
The Boring Company is working on a tunnel to ward off the crowds at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Photo: John Locher (AP)
Public figures show that the Las Vegas contract is for 52.5 million dollars, almost 525 million crowns. Fornebubanen is 6.4 times longer. Anyway, Fornebu would cost almost 3.5 billion crowns, given the 8700 meters of double tunnel and up to 19 stations.
– We must be careful when comparing projects between countries. But the calculation should pique the curiosity of anyone managing taxpayers’ money. Let’s be conservative and say that everything is triple the price in Norway, and that it takes twice as long in Norway than in Las Vegas. Then the price will be NOK 10 billion and it will take 3.2 years. In any case, it is faster and cheaper than the current project for 17 billion and seven years of construction, he says.
[ad_2]
