Rail Baltica Estonia and GRK Eesti – GRK Suomi signed a EUR 27.2 million contract for the reconstruction of Ülemiste rail infrastructure to prepare the area and its vicinity for the future Rail Baltica railway and passenger terminal.
Under the project, the most extensive works are related to the construction of tracks and embankment and in addition, a contact network will be established on the main tracks and a traffic control system, electricity supply and station area lighting will be built.
16.3 km of existing tracks will be demolished, and more than 8 km of new tracks with a gauge of 1520 mm will be built instead.
The construction work will begin in spring 2023, and the project will last until autumn 2026.
The project is “an important step for the entire Rail Baltica project, which also allows moving forward with the next stages of the joint terminal,” Anvar Salomets, the Chairman of the Board of Rail Baltic Estonia said.
During the construction works, functional train traffic on the main tracks will be ensured, and for this, the existing relay-based traffic control system will be temporarily reconstructed. In addition to the railway works, the scope of the construction procurement also includes the reconstruction of utility networks crossing the railway and the Kantsi viaduct.
“We already contributed to the Rail Baltica project last year in the form of the construction of the Urge ecoduct, and we are now carrying out construction work on the construction of the Kehtna-Põlma road viaduct. The Ülemiste terminal railway project can be called very important from the point of view of the Estonian transport network and Rail Baltica,” Priit Paabo, CEO of GRK Eesti AS said.
In addition, the procurement of construction works for stage II of the construction of the Ülemiste joint terminal, which includes the construction works of the under-rail supporting structures, with which the underground floor of the terminal and other related railway facilities will be built, is currently being evaluated.
The construction of the structures will take place after the demolition of the existing railway and must be completed before the construction of the new railways, requiring close cooperation between the infrastructure contractor and the terminal construction contractor.
The Ülemiste rail infrastructure will be able to accommodate trains running on both 1435 mm and 1520 mm gauges.
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