Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

This thesis examines the reasons to why railway projects conducted by Banverket (Swedish National Rail Administration) could be expected to cause significant effects on the environment, on which grounds the County Administrative Board and Swedish National Rail Administration base their decisions/assumptions and highlight regional differences between the different Swedish national rail administrations regions. Total 24 railway projects, conducted or being conducted, during the time period 2001 - January 2010 have been analyzed and studied. These projects represent eight different measures/activities which are dispersed throughout all five of the Swedish National Rail Administration´s different regions. Swedish legislations demands that the planner of a new railway project shall first conduct a pre-study and then conduct a public consultation which provides the participants an opportunity to provide input. The County Administrative Board shall then decide if the project could cause significant effects on the environment. The amount of published material is scarce regarding why railway projects cause significant effects on the environment.

The study concludes that those railway projects conducted during 2001- Jan 2010 and which are localized within or near residential areas constitute laying down a new track i.e. from single track to double track and imply major encroachments on existing station- and railway yards, culture- and nature environments will get the decision to cause significant effects on the environment. Projects that are not localized within or near residential areas, and only imply minor measures/activities which do not include effects on the above described environments will not cause significant effects on the environment. Other conclusions obtained from the study are that the motivations for the decision making among the different County Administrative Boards are homogeneous. Suggested improvements for the Swedish National Rail Administration regarding their planning and EIA-process is that an increased studying of earlier preformed projects could help to predict the County Administrative Boards decision if a project could cause significant effects on the environment or not.