for the Russians to transport military personnel and supplies towards the Swedish border in case of war. Combined with the planned Luleå–Boden–Gällivare–Kiruna–Narvik railway stretch (the Iron Ore and Ofoten Lines), this would pose a great opportunity for the Russians to fulfill their latent wish to seize control of northern Scandinavia and the Atlantic ports on the Norwegian coast. At least according to some officers—both Swedish and Norwegian—which in the second half of the 1880s noticed the increased strategic importance of northern Scandinavia and Lapland as an effect of the construction of the railway lines in the area. This was also noticed by the Riksdag member Johan Erik Nyström from Norrbotten's electoral district who—worried about the railway to Oulu—put forward a motion about strengthening the Upper Norrland defence in 1885. The length of the railway lines started to affect strategic planning, and in some cases military decisions influenced the planning of new railway lines. Even though the northernmost stretch of the Main Line Through Upper Norrland had long been planned, it was not until 1887 and the victory of the Lantmanna Party's protectionist wing in that year's election that the financial means—from increased trade tariff income—and the political will allowed the completion of the railway through Överluleå, which Boden was sometimes called. The "slumbering resources and the rapid expansion" in Upper Norrland were two reasons to build a railway to the sparsely populated area; another factor that had a big part in the decision to complete the main line was the government's takeover of the Luleå–Gällivare line, which had previously been in the hands of an English company. The stretch was very lucrative, as it considerably eased the transport of iron ore from the ore fields around Kiruna and Gällivare down to the coast for further transport by boat. Another English company had in the 1860s tried to construct a combination of a railway and a canal—the English Canal—for the stretch, but went bankrupt before their plans were completed. The company contracted for the new railway line experienced similar economic difficulties and the Swedish state decided to buy the nearly completed line to finish it in 1891. The decision to complete the railway through to Boden sparked interest in Norrbotten among the members of the Swedish General Staff, and the chief, Axel Rappe, conducted a survey trip to the region in 1887. His report mentioned the changed strategic options due to