With the axle load being increased from 30 tonnes to 31 tonnes, Trafikverket northern region maintenance manager Staffan Ökvist said the testing will determine which stretches of railway need upgrading to allow for the heavier weight. Doing so would allow, too, more efficient and environmentally transport.
"Quite simply, through testing, we want to determine how higher axle load affects wear on rails and switches. Testing is beginning now and we will assess the results on an ongoing basis," he added.
The groups will conduct testing on both the Norwegian and Swedish areas of railway, specifically between Kiruna and Narvik (Malmbanan and Ofotbanan). It will be in addition to existing testing that has already been in process for some time on the line's southern section between Malmberget and Luleå.
The ultimate goal is to later be able to operate trains with an axle load of 32.5t along the entire Ore Railway.
LKAB noted that, over last year, it hauled more than 34 million tonnes on the railway, mostly iron ore from the mines to the ports in Luleå and Narvik. It noted that even a few percentage points of capacity can have a significant return.
"With an increase in maximum axle load, in theory, we can increase the payload of a train by four percent. Eventually, the axle load will be increased to a point when we can load ten percent more without having to run more trains," LKAB Malmtrafik CEO and LKAB Logistics general manager Jan Lundgren said.
"In the longer term, we plan to increase production even more, which will require double track on the railway. For us, the Ore Railway and Ofotbanen, on the Norwegian side, constitute a single system."
LKAB has already begun the transition to carbon-dioxide-free production, it said; hydrogen will be used to reduce oxygen from the ore iron at the mine sites, meaning the sponge iron it will haul by train will have a higher volumetric weight.
"Together with an increased axle load, this greater density is an advantage, since we will be able to haul more payload per car," Lundgren noted.
