The Storting is unanimous: The Norwegian Railway Directorate must assess the consequences for emergency preparedness if heavy train maintenance is moved abroad.
– Throughout 2023, we at Mantena have fought to put railway preparedness capability on the agenda for railway authorities and politicians. We are very pleased that we have succeeded in doing so, states John Arne Ulvan, CEO of Mantena.
The Storting has now decided that the government must ensure the Railway Directorate immediately initiates an assessment of the consequences for operational stability and preparedness if heavy train maintenance will no longer be located in Norway. The assessment must be conducted in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.
Read more about the decision here.
To be assessed in the first half of the year
The Railway Directorate will carry out the assessment in the first half of 2024, and it has been confirmed that Mantena will be involved in this process.
Ulvan emphasizes that Mantena is not against competition itself.
– But for the sake of Norwegian emergency preparedness, the competition must be structured with a requirement that all parties entering maintenance contracts for Norwegian trains must have infrastructure in place to also perform heavy maintenance in Norway, says Ulvan, and continues:
– Our competitors base their maintenance contracts on heavy maintenance being carried out at workshops across Europe. This probably works in peacetime, but it is a highly uncertain concept should war or crisis occur.
The Armed Forces have also been very clear that maintenance of critical railway equipment must be carried out in Norway, and their input to the parliamentary case was noted.
Also read Ulvan’s op-ed in Aftenposten: "Emergency preparedness in Norwegian railways is at risk"