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The Hallandsås tunnel project moves forward
12 February 2015 | By Trafikverket
The railway installations have entered a new phase on the Hallandsås project, and track has now been laid in the tunnel...
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Last sleeper laid in the Gotthard Base Tunnel
4 November 2014 | By AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd
On Wednesday 31 October 2014, the last rails were laid in the Gotthard Base Tunnel. At a distance of around 54m from the south portal, the contractor cast the "golden sleeper"; a big moment for everyone involved and an important milestone for the project...
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Constructing the complicated Hallandsås Tunnel
18 September 2014 | By Ulf Angberg – Communications Manager for the Hallandsås Project at Trafikverket
Following many years of troublesome construction work, both rail tunnels through the Hallandsås Ridge in Southern Sweden were completed ain 2013. Initiated back in 1992, the construction project has generated more headlines in the Swedish media than any other. Ulf Angberg – Communications Manager for the Hallandsås Project at the…
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The Brenner Base Tunnel – A railway line for the future
5 August 2014 | By Konrad Bergmeister, CEO at BBT SE
The construction of the 64km-long Brenner Base Tunnel (BBT) is in full swing. After the completion of three construction lots in Italy and Austria with an investment of €550 million, the next construction lots are on the way. Konrad Bergmeister, CEO at BBT SE – the company tasked with construction…
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Norway: The new Ulriken Tunnel – drill and blast or TBM?
4 June 2014 | By Hans-Egil Larsen, Project Manager at Jernbaneverket
The line between Arna and Bergen in Norway is one of the most heavily trafficked sections of single-track railway in Europe, with approximately 130 trains passing daily. This section is a bottleneck for rail traffic to and from the station and freight terminal in Bergen. The Norwegian National Rail Administration…
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Leipzig’s new city tunnel – the backbone of a new network
11 April 2014 | By Oliver Mietzsch, General Manager, Greater Leipzig Railway Authority Association (ZVNL)
On 15 December 2013, the Leipzig City Tunnel was opened for commercial service. Despite some delays in completing the new underground infrastructure which ended up costing double the initially planned €450 million capital investment, statements from industry-officials made during an opening ceremony were full of pride about the completion of…
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Turkey’s Marmaray Project: a 153-year-old dream becomes reality
11 April 2014 | By Süleyman Karaman, Director General and Chairman of the Board, Turkish State Railways (TCDD)
On 29 October 2013, an inauguration ceremony took place in Turkey to mark the opening of a rail tunnel beneath the Bosphorus, connecting the European and Asian sides of Istanbul. Part of the wider Marmaray Project, this rail connection is built 60m below sea level and is the world’s deepest…
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The Liefkenshoek Rail Link – part of a strategy for capacity
12 February 2014 | By Luc Lallemand, CEO, Infrabel
Infrabel, the Belgian rail infrastructure manager, is now busy with the final work on the track for the Liefkenshoek Rail Link. The works for this direct rail link between the left and right banks in the Port of Antwerp are well on schedule, and the new railway infrastructure will be…
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Steady construction continues on the new Koralmbahn
12 February 2014 | By OBB-Holding AG
The Koralm Railway (or Koralmbahn) is a new double-track line approximately 133km-long that will run between the Austrian cities of Graz and Klagenfurt and is part of the Baltic-Adriatic Axis which connects the Baltic Sea with the ports of the upper Adriatic. At the heart of the new railway line…
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The Swiss traffic transfer policy gains ground
1 August 2013 | By Peter Füglistaler, Director of the Federal Office of Transport (FOT), Switzerland
One of the principal aims of Swiss transport policy is to transfer transalpine freight traffic from road to rail. This is why Switzerland has built the new flat-bed rail tunnels through the Alps and introduced a road charge for heavy goods vehicles. In order to further support this development, the…
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Gotthard and Ceneri base tunnels on target
1 August 2013 | By Renzo Simoni, CEO, AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd
Work on the Gotthard and Ceneri base tunnels is on course. In the Gotthard Base Tunnel between Erstfeld and Sedrun, the ballastless railway track has been laid in both tubes. In total, 45% of the railway infrastructure systems have been installed. A pilot operation between Faido and the south portal…
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CROSSING BORDERS: The Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link
23 May 2013 | By Johnny Restrup-Sørensen, Contract Director – Railway, Femern A/S
The Fehmarnbelt Tunnel will connect Denmark and Germany with a two-track railway and a four-lane motorway underneath the Fehmarnbelt. With a total length of approximately 18km, it will be the world’s longest immersed tunnel for combined rail and road traffic and will help bring people, businesses and culture in the…
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Brenner Base Tunnel construction continues as expected
19 September 2012 | By Konrad Bergmeister, CEO, Brenner Basistunnel BBT SE
Construction of the 64km-long Brenner Base Tunnel is in full swing. Two sections of the exploratory tunnel are completed, the access tunnel in Mules now connects the exploratory tunnel with the surface, and two more logistic tunnels are ready for use. The Brenner Base Tunnel (BBT) is a straight, flat…
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Swiss rail construction projects on track – in cities, through the Alps and across borders
1 August 2012 | By Philippe Gauderon, Head of SBB Infrastructure and Raffael Hirt, Communications Manager for the Zurich Cross-City Link, SBB Infrastructure
Throughout 2012, SBB Infrastructure is undertaking a number of construction projects across Switzerland: in the two largest Swiss cities, Zurich and Geneva, in the St. Gallen and Schaffhausen conurbations, in the canton of Ticino, in the Alps, and even beyond Switzerland’s borders. This article presents an overview of the major…
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Gotthard railway systems now being installed and the Ceneri is on course
1 August 2012 | By Renzo Simoni, CEO, AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd
Since the second final breakthrough on 23 March 2011, fitting-out of the Gotthard Base Tunnel has made rapid progress, and since September 2011, installation of the railway systems has been taking place from the north. Elsewhere in the Ceneri Base Tunnel, work has begun on the main drives from the…
