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Hareide surprised local politicians across the country when it announced in September last year that the current National Transportation Plan (NTP) is unrealistic and that the projects currently included in the plan can no longer feel safe.
NTP is the Storting’s plan for which road, rail, maritime and aviation projects should be prioritized in the short and long term, but it has had a tired tendency to grow above a realistic budget, both in scope and cost. .
The ministry is currently finalizing the new plan, which will be presented in mid-March. In advance, both the Norwegian Public Roads Administration and Nye veier and Bane Nor should carefully look for cut and save opportunities.
Hareide says he is prepared for many people to be disappointed when the plan is presented.
– Although many probably agree with the thought, I think that many think that sobriety should apply to everyone else’s projects other than mine, he tells NTB.
Also read: Hareide warns of cuts in revised transportation plan
Suggest cuts in E39 without ferry
Hareide will not disclose how many or which projects will now be removed from the transportation plan. However, in October last year, the sub-directorates presented their cut proposals.
This includes, among other things, suspending plans for a new railway between Bergen and Voss, as well as intercity development of the railway to Lillehammer, Halden and Ski.
Costs have also been greatly reduced on the E39 project without ferries (the Bjørnafjorden and Romsdalsfjorden crossings), and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration has proposed to cut off the new E6 Oslo East entirely, according to Aftenposten.
Hareide calls these guidelines “very important.”
– They are our best professionals. It is clear to me that what they come up with is very important, says Hareide.
Also read: “The national transport plan is no longer worth the paper on which it is written”
Directions must compete
Hareide says the most important thing is to change the way people think about transportation projects.
He believes that too many projects had been immature before when the decision was made, leading to many unpleasant surprises and cost overruns.
In the future, NTP will only cover specific projects in the first period, that is, the first six years, while the last six will be much more open.
It will then be up to the transport authorities to produce the best, cheapest and most realistic projects for the next period. A mutual competition between them is an important part of the thinking, something Hareide has called the biggest reform of the NTP yet.
– This means that the directions will have to be fine-tuned, but they will also have a greater influence, says Hareide.
Hareide says he wants to end projects that have made it into the plan, to be deemed “safe,” and that project managers should think that cost overruns are not so dangerous.
Also read: “We need to be sure that we get back as much as possible for every penny”
The greenest of all time
Hareide says the next NTP will also be the greenest of all time. The transport sector is the sector in Norway outside the quota sector that will experience the largest emission cuts in the future.
The keywords are biofuels, electric cars and investment in public transport, railways and bicycles, according to Hareide.
– At the same time, we must be aware of what a green option is. It’s not the same as ten years ago, he says, pointing to the explosive rise in the number of zero-emission cars.
– It is a development that means that what was environmentally friendly is not just thinking about railways and urban growth agreements, says Hareide.
Also read: Hareide: – There is a lot of 2018 that I would have done differently
Data on the National Transportation Plan:
* The National Transport Plan (NTP) is a transport plan for road, rail, sea and air in Norway, and is valid for twelve years at a time.
* It is reviewed every four years.
* In the plan, the government prioritizes among all transportation projects in the country and establishes what will be invested and where the money will be allocated. The credits must correspond to the budgets of the last years and the priorities can change.
* NTP for the period 2018-2029 has a total budget of NOK 1064 billion. Of this, NOK 933 billion are state funds, while NOK 131 billion are tolls.
* In March, the government will present the National Transportation Plan for the period 2022-2033.
* The Minister of Transport and Communications Knut Arild Hareide (KrF) has announced that he will reform the transport plan, and that all the projects of the plan can no longer be considered safe, especially those that do not come in the first six-year period of the plan.
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