Establishment of Malmtrafik Iron Ore Line

hopper cars in kiruna

in 1993, state railways losing money on ore trains. in january 1994, sj , nsb stated going merge operations of iron ore line , ofoten line. in may 1994, lkab applied traffic rights on ofoten line. rejected in december 1994 norwegian ministry of transport , communications, stated company did not meet criteria in law, including applicant had have rail transport main activity. on 8 june 1995, lkab established swedish , norwegian subsidiary dedicated rail transport. bypass rationale provided ministry of transport in denying them traffic rights, , lkab stated there no way norwegian authorities deny them such rights, given eu directive 91/440. @ time norway part of european economic area (and sweden of eu) meaning eu directives valid in both countries.

on 27 june 1995, lkab, sj , nsb reached agreement 3 establish joint venture owned 51% lkab , 24.5% each nsb , sj. @ time there 350 employees in 3 companies involved in transport, , new company recruit employees among these, although need fewer employees. plans called new companies taking on operations 1 january 1996. in late january, committee concluded lkab met criteria receive traffic rights. report showed 55 jobs lost in narvik , norwegian railway inspectorate had concerns regarding safety of lkab s operations.

the labor unions protested after lkab demanded employees switch union swedish union service , communications employees swedish metalworkers union. rejected workers, both have reduce pay , work 5 more years before retirement. on 28 may, 22 train drivers, swedish, took out sick leave in protest towards being forced switch labor union , receive lower wages , worse pension rights. caused third of ore trains canceled. on 28 june, transfer of operations finalized following vote in parliament of norway.