News
Denmark pumps oil money into rail mo T
Denis Bowers Correspondent
HE Danish government has announced plans to use North Sea oil revenues to finance a ƒ3.7bn investment in the country’s railway infrastructure over the next decade, which will cut journey times between Denmark’s five largest cities.
The ambitious “one hour plan” will reduce Copenhagen - Odense, Odense - Esbjerg, Odense - Aarhus, and Aarhus - Aalborg journey times to one hour or less by 2025 through electrification and track upgrades, which in some areas will include the construction of new lines.
The new line between Copenhagen and Ringsted is already under construction and this project will be key to achieving the one-hour target on the Copenhagen - Odense line. The Ringsted - Odense line will also be upgraded as part of this project. The Odense - Aarhus line is
the greatest challenge because of the circuitous nature of the existing line, which meanders through the hills of western Fyn before crossing into Jutland where it skirts around inlets to serve Vejle and Randers before heading inland towards Skanderborg. Upgrading this line will involve the construction of a new direct line from Odense to Middelfart in western Fyn, construction of a new bridge across the mouth of Vejle Fjord to bypass the town of Vejle, and a new section between
Hovegård and the southern suburbs of Aarhus which will avoid Skanderborg. Vejle will continue to be served by inter-city services heading from Odense to Brande, Herning, Holstebro, and Streuer in northwest Jutland as well as regional trains using the existing main line between Aarhus and Esbjerg.
Less extensive works are
required on the Aarhus - Aalborg section, which will be electrified and upgraded to achieve the required journey time reduction.
Even though Esbjerg was not originally included in the one hour proposals, the construction of the new Odense - Middelfart line will also help to reduce the Odense - Esbjerg journey time to less than an hour.
The estimated cost of these
projects is ƒ2.52bn and they are tentatively scheduled for completion by 2022. The other part of the
project involves extending electrification. The
Copenhagen - Odense line is already electrified and the Copenhagen - Ringsted line will be electrified when it opens in 2018. Electrification south of Ringsted is part of the Fehmarn Link project and will be completed by 2021 and electrification is already underway on the Kolding - Esbjerg line. The Odense - Aarhus line is
already electrified as far as Fredericia and this will be extended to Aarhus by 2020. Electrification works will be
coordinated with the rollout of ERTMS on this section. The line from Aarhus to
Aalborg will be electrified shortly afterwards, culminating with the Aalborg - Frederikshavn section, which is outside the scope of the one hour plan, by 2025. The single track Vejle - Herning - Struer line will also be electrified by 2025, and has been included in the plans despite a low cost:benefit ratio.
The busy commuter line
from Roskilde to Holbæk, is currently being double-tracked and will also be electrified, including the section beyond Holbæk to Kalundborg. The estimated cost of electrification is ƒ1.16bn.
The extent of electrification means a significant investment in new trains will also be required, and following the botched introduction of the IC4 dmus, the government
AZAKHSTAN Railways (KTZ) has awarded a contract to Systra to oversee the design and construction of the country’s first high-speed line. Systra has already conducted a feasibility study for the project. The 1011km line will link the capital Astana with Almaty, which with a population of 1.4 million is the largest city in
6
Kazakhstan to build 1000km high-speed line within four years K
Kazakhstan. The 1520mm- gauge single-track line will have a maximum speed of 250km/h. It will include a 10km viaduct across Lake Balkhash and a 300km desert section. The line will have to cope with a temperature range of up to 75oC between winter and summer.
KTZ plans to operate six round trips a day with a
journey time of 5h 30min. It plans to procure the trains for the new line through the Tulpar-Talgo joint venture in Kazakhstan. KTZ is currently procuring 220 coaches from the joint venture which will be introduced between Almaty and Atyrau on the Caspian Sea in June and from Astana to Atyrau in November. “These specific technical
issues and a tight four-year deadline for completion of the design and construction phases present a major challenge,” says Systra. The line will be commissioned in Spring 2017 to coincide with the Astana World Expo. The contract was signed by Systra CEO Mr Pierre Verzat and KTZ chairman Mr Askar Uzakpaevitch Mamin.
IRJ April 2013
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