On May 23 Inland Railway held talks with the municipalities that own the company, and received a mandate to negotiate an agreement with Macquirie.

Inland Railway is seeking SKr 1bn ($US 120m) in contributions from pension funds and institutional investors to realise its plans, which the company says will improve rail freight access to Sweden’s interior and enable the reintroduction of regular passenger services with modern rolling stock.

Freight traffic on the route reached 62 million gross tonne-km in 2016, with timber and processed wood products the primary traffic. In addition to freight trains the line is also used by tourist services.

In March a DMU built by TZV Gredelj, Croatia, visited the Östersund - Mora section of the line to promote the reintroduction of regular regional passenger services.