“We want to increase overall investment in railways and public transport by around 120 billion kronor ($16.7 billion) by 2021… Meaning that we will double rail investment during the period in comparison to the government’s plan,” write the leaders of the Social Democrat, Green and Left Parties in an opinion article in the Dagens Nyheter daily on Monday.

The proposal includes high-speed railway links between Stockholm and Linköping, and between Gothenburg and Borås via Landvetter airport, the start of construction for the Northern Bothnia Line between Umeå and Luleå, double track expansion on the East Coast Line between Sundsvall and Gävle, and an expansion to four tracks with a tunnel under Sundbyberg outside Stockholm.

The parties also announced an intention to bring forward plans for the West Link rail tunnel, the extension of the West Coast Railway extension through Varberg and expansion of the southern trunk line network.

The opposition coalition describes its ambitious and expensive plans as the largest since the late 1800s, but despite the cost they also project no reduction in the framework for road investment that the government has already proposed.