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 the railway lines on both sides of the Gulf and a need for some kind of fortification in Boden, but he also toned down the earlier thoughts on the Russian interest in the Luleå–Narvik line. Rappe's report directly affected the future stretch of the railway line in Norrbotten. His recommendations, largely based on his and the General Staff's military planning, not to build the line along the coast, or build it all the way to the Swedish-Finnish border at Haparanda were later followed. The subsequent report completed in 1890 by the Neutrality Committee of 1888 ()—with Axel Rappe as one of its members—suggested that a credible neutrality required an increased defence of the north-eastern border and proposed a budget of 1.3 million Swedish kronor, corresponding in today's money to around US$11 million (as of 2011), for the construction of permanent fortifications in Boden.