In May, Bane NOR, Norway’s rail infrastructure manager, organised an event dedicated to the new projects and tenders to be announced this autumn, as well as to those in the years to come. Projects include the duplication of existing railways, mainly by building new tunnels and bridges, as well as new stations due to be completed in 2024.
With a network of over 4,000 km, Norway plans to significantly develop its railway infrastructure by building new railways, expanding and duplicating the existing ones, building new freight hubs and terminals. The objective of the projects is to increase the rail infrastructure accessibility, to provide efficient transport services, to reduce road traffic and to increase the railway transport share.
At present, Follo Line is the largest transport infrastructure project in Norway which includes 22 km of railway from the capital Oslo to the transport hub in the city of Ski (Follo district). The challenge of this project consists of the construction of the 20-km twin rail tunnel. In May, the fifth and last EPC contract was signed for the construction of the infrastructure between Oslo Central Station and Ekeberg Hill. The contract involves the design and construction of final track layout and installation of technical systems, with the main works scheduled to start at the beginning of 2019 and to be completed in 2021. The project is the backbone of the InterCity system development to the south of Oslo, a system for which new tenders are expected to be announced for the duplication and extension of railways. The national transport plan for 2018-2029 is expected to be approved and includes railway projects with a total cost of NOK 319 billion (EUR 33,57 billion), as well as a new tunnel in Oslo, the establishment of the whole Innner InterCity network, Ringerike railways, Grenland, the electrification of Trønder and Meråker railways, the duplication of Sandnes –Nærbø- Egersund and Arna-Stanghelle railways and the finalisation of ERTMS deployment at national level by 2032. Works are included in the InterCity project whose route between Oslo and Seut, near Fredrikstad (Østfold county, Eastern Norway), Hamar, on Dovre line, and Tønsberg, on Vestfold line, will be developed by building double railways. The project also includes new line extensions. It includes the construction of 270 km of double line and 25 stations through 21 cities and villages part of the Intercity network facilitating the development of the transport services and a multi-central structure along the routes and in Oslo region. The railways from Oslo to Hamar, Tønsberg, Fredrikstad (representing the inner Intercity) will be completed by 2024 and the whole network will be completed in 2032-2034. Necessary investments are estimated at NOK 150 billion (EUR 15.8 billion).
“Starting this fall, and in the next years, Bane NOR will announce several billion contracts. Bane NOR wants the most cost-effective development projects and in this context, we see that foreign competition will be a contribution in our projects. We encourage the cooperation between current companies and the new suppliers,” company’s Head of Supplier Relations, Morten Sigvardsen said.
Ringerike Line and E16 Motorway is a rail-road project including 40 km of railways designed for speeds of 250 km/h, the construction of bridges, of a 23-km twin rail tunnel, of a station (Sundvollen), and of 15 km of highways with 4 lanes. The shortlisting of companies for main rail >
> and road works will be announced in the 3-4 quarters of 2019, the contract will be awarded in 2020 and works will be initiated as of 2021. The project is estimated at NOK 26 billion (EUR 2,7 billion) and should be commissioned as of 2024. The project will reduce travel time between Hønefoss and Oslo by one hour.
Sandbukta-Moss-Såstad project includes 10 km of double line, two 5km tunnels of double track and a new 800-m long station, Moss. The railway will pass through Moss city, connected to the south of Oslo, a vital connection for reducing traffic congestion in the capital. Construction works are expected to be initiated at the end of 2017 and commissioned in 2025. According to the procurement plan, preparation works will begin this year. The engineering, procurement and construction works (EPC) for the substructure has an estimate cost ranging between EUR 368 and 473 million and will be announced in the first part of 2019. The execution of track and catenary works will be initiated in the first part of 2021 at an estimated cost of EUR 52,6 million. Power and telecom works, worth EUR 37 million, will be carried out at the same time. There is a framework agreement with Thales for the signalling works.
Just like the other Norwegian projects, Kleverud-Sørli (Dovre Line) includes a double, 16-km long railway, the construction of a new station in Tangen, of a 1.2 km bridge and of the 3.3 km long tunnel, called Hestenes. The estimated cost of the EPCIC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation & Commissioning) contract is EUR 210-315 million and will be awarded in the first quarter of 2019. The EPC contract amounts to around EUR 115.7 million. The tendering includes 2 phases, the request for information as basis for prequalification and then the technical and commercial proposal for the evaluation and attribution of the contract. Signalling works will be carried out based on a framework agreement with Thales. Next year’s budget will be approved at the end of the year and works are expected to be completed in 2024.
Within the Venjar-Eidsvoll-Langset project, works will be carried out while the existing line is still in operation. The project includes the duplication of the railway with a total of over 13 km, of which one with a 4-km section from Venjar to Eidsvoll (east of the existing line), the construction of 4 bridges and two new culverts (parallel to the existing ones) and of a soft-soil tunnel at Eidsvoll. Also, the railway will be extended to Vorma including a double 7.5 km railway (from Eidsvoll to Langset)and a rail bridge of 900m built over Vorma (near Minnesund). The existing supply infrastructure from Venjar to Wergeland tunnel is planned to be reused and the reconstruction of the existing signalling system on Venjar – Eidsvoll section will be executed by Siemens. New power supply infrastructure >
> and new signal system from Eidsvoll to Langset will be executed by Thales.
For the infrastructure in Venjar, the contract is estimated at between EUR 105 million and EUR 210 million, while for Eidsvoll-Langset section, the contract is estimated at EUR 189 million. The railway is part of the Dovre Line project and from 2023, it will be interconnected from Oslo to Sørli.
Vestfold Line project includes the modernisation and duplication of the infrastructure on several line sections aimed to reduce travel time between Vestfold/Grenland and Oslo. As of 1995, when the first modernised and doubled section was put into operation, the infrastructure manager continues works and places in service new sections. Farriseidet-Porsgrunn section is expected to be commissioned in 2018. The objective of the project is to permit trains to run at speeds of 250 km/h by doubling the line to Tønsberg (by 2024), then between Stokke and Sandefjord (by 2026) to facilitate the journey between Skien and Oslo.
10 km of railway is expected to be doubled on Drammen-Kobbervikdalen section, a 7-km long rock tunnel and a 270m concrete tunnel, a 160-m long bridge and the reconstruction of Drammen and Gulskogen stations.
The costs of the project are estimated at EUR 1 billion and the shortlisting procedure is proposed for 2018, so that the line could be launched in 2024.
Nykirke-Barkåker is another section of Vestfold Line which includes the duplication of the railway on 14 km, the construction of three tunnels, two bridges and a new station (Skoppum). The project is worth 734 million and, just like in the case of the above-mentioned project, the shortlisting procedure will begin in 2018, so that the line could be launched in 2024.
Arna-Bergen is one of the busiest railways in Europe and, with over 120 trains a day, on simple track, it operates at maximum capacity. Therefore, it is necessary to double the railway and the project is divided in two smaller projects: Arna – Fløen section and Bergen – Fløen section. Most of the railway crosses Mount Ulriken requiring the construction of a parallel tunnel of 7.8 km (Ulriken tunnel). The most important projects of the first sections are “New Ulriken tunnel” (UUT 21), “Arna station” (UUT 25) and the technical rail contract (UUT 31). The New Ulriken tunnel breakthrough is expected by autumn 2017, for Arna Station works will start in August 2017, and for the UUT 31 the tender will be launched this autumn. The contract includes work on the new and the old tunnel, as well as on the Arna station area, and it will be awarded in 2018, with planned start-up in 2019 and completion in the 3rd quarter of 2022. The detailed design is delivered by Bane NOR, and the contractor will be responsible for the design pn the slab track part of the tunnel (7 km). The estimated cost is EUR 52.6 million.
Regarding Bergen – Fløen section, the project includes the duplication of the railway on 1.3 km and the renewal of the existing systems on this railway. The project is very complex because of the location (the city centre), the limited space and the obsolete infrastructure. Therefore, the infrastructure manager considers Bergen light rail, the freight terminal and other rail projects and elaborates a new progress of the project plan.
This article was published in the June issue of the Railway PRO Magazine that analyses the latest and most important railway projects around the world.
by Pamela Luica
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