Arne O. Holm says Canned Food Is of No Help if Soldiers Must Use a Rail Replacement Bus Service

Les på norsk.

This is a comment written by a member of the editorial staff. The comment expresses the author's opinions.

Analysts analyze the threat from Russia almost always in terms of the European side's lack of military power. We lack both weapons and soldiers, particularly if the American war machine does not show up.

More than weapons

Yet, the outcome of a possible war, which, according to Danish intelligence, could happen within five years, is about more than the number of weapons. 

For those of us who live in the North, it is just as much about whether the Armed Forces, be that national or international task forces, can make their way to the war zones if Russia were to attack.

That is difficult enough in times of peace.

The other day, the Norwegian PM Jonas Gahr Støre reiterated the promise of building the Northern Norway Line, a railway extension from the Nordland Line, which ends in Fauske municipality. Without saying too much about the wisdom of such a plan, the proposed railway would be finished in 15 to 20 years at the earliest. In other words, it is way too late, according to the Danish threat assessment.

And what about the existing railway between Trondheim and Fauske?

The stretch is in full-fledged crisis mode, according to the business sector. Old and decrepit locomotives combined with a railway track not up to standard have led to a regularity of less than 40 percent. If defense equipment is to be transported by rail northward, there is a big possibility that both soldiers and canons will end up using the rail replacement bus service. 

As often as Elon Musk

From Fauske and northward, E-road 6 efficiently hinders the transport of passengers and goods from both the defense and civil society.

I have had to get an app on my phone to keep track of when the E6 is closed due to poor weather conditions, accidents, maintenance, or convoys of trailers stuck in tunnels or mountain passes.

The notifications of closed roads come in almost as often as Elon Musk reports on X.

Another central transport vein is the railway from Narvik to Sweden, the Ofoten Line. The capacity on the line is already overpowered, and there are also long shutdown periods due to the lack of maintenance. Most recently, a two-month halt from December 17th last year.

A recent investigation showed that snow on the tracks was the cause. This was due to holes in a gallery that is supposed to protect against this exact situation.

Now, let's add the fact that ferries and high-speed crafts are canceled almost daily in periods in the North. New boats cannot handle large waves, and old replacement boats break down.

Canned food

I usually try to comment on current news. Yet, this comment could have been written a year ago, five years ago, or ten years ago.

The only thing that has changed is that the government urges us to be prepared for a possible war. We obediently fill our water jugs and stock up on crisp bread and canned food. But none of us can build roads and railways.

But perhaps we can demand from our politicians what they demand of us.

Because canned food is of little help if military task forces are stuck behind a bus service that has been dispatched due to a train breakdown but cannot move forward because a trailer is stuck at a mountain pass.

Or because the Ofoten Line has been closed for a couple of months because there is snow on the railway track in the high mountains between Kiruna and Narvik.