"It's bad for the development of both Kronoberg, Skåne and Blekinge and it's a hard blow to the business community," says Eva Ballovarre to SVT Småland.

In 2017, Region Kronoberg announced that they would be willing to pay for the investments required to accommodate not only freight trains but also passenger trains when the railway between Älmhult and Karlshamn, the so-called Southeast Link, is rebuilt and expanded for freight traffic.

The plan was for Region Kronoberg to pay SEK 25 million and Region Blekinge SEK 50 million.

Doubled costs

But according to Kronoberg's regional board chairman Mikael Johansson (M), the regions received information from the Swedish Transport Administration earlier this year that the costs had increased and that they now had to pay a total of SEK 150 million compared to the previous 75 million.

"We have been trying to negotiate for six months, but when the formal proposal for an agreement came a few weeks ago, it said the same amount," Mikael Johansson (M) told SVT Småland.

Therefore, Region Kronoberg, Blekinge and Skåne summoned the Swedish Transport Administration for a meeting, which was held on Friday.

"We wanted to try to find out what would happen in the future.

But according to Mikael Johansson, the meeting led nowhere. And then neither he nor Region Blekinge's representative saw any other solution than to withdraw from the project.

Municipal commissioner Eva Ballovarre: "Frivolous"

But Eva Ballovarre (S), who is the chairman of the municipal board in Älmhult, calls the action unserious and also believes that it is short-sighted.

"I think we have to think longer than one year in the budget because all infrastructure investments pay off in the long run," she told SVT Småland.

Eva Ballovarre (S) says that she believes that the rebuilding of freight traffic may also be in danger due to the fact that Region Kronoberg is now backing down.

"It is in the interest of society as a whole that there are jobs and a rich business community in more places than in the big cities, so I think we must dare to invest in order for our business community to grow and thrive.

The map shows how the Southeast Link is intended to be routed through Småland and Blekinge. Photo: SVT Design