[3/14/2005 ]
Construction work starts on Citytunnel
After several years of preparation and planning, the six-year construction phase of the Citytunnel Project has begun. Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson got the work officially underway in central Malmö on Tuesday, March 8.
The Prime Minister said the Öresund link, new Malmö City Library and Malmö University were three enormous projects that each would make Sweden’s third-largest city both more pleasant for people and more modern – and added that it was time for the next stage of that journey.
"The development and growth of Malmö must be carried out in a way that does not harm the quality of life that our children demand. That means that traffic must be limited, that exhaust pollution must be reduced – and that is where rail transport comes in," said Persson before he started the red-painted boring machine that marked the beginning of the construction phase.
For the Citytunnel’s Executive Project Director Örjan Larsson, the event was the last step in the transition from planning to construction.
"After all these years of preparation, it is great to finally get going. We will do our best to build the Citytunnel in the safest and most environmentally friendly way possible," he says.
The Citytunnel Project is a public transportation solution promoting greater integration and growth for the Öresund region by making it easier for people to use environment-friendly public transport.
It is also one of Sweden’s largest and most complex infrastructure projects, with a construction time of six years and a budget of SEK 9.45 billion, according to monetary value in 2001.
Swedish Government approval for the Citytunnel in Malmö in March 2003 started an intensive phase of tenders for major contracts and negotiations in the Environmental Court.
The first contracts were signed in November 2004. The largest contract went to Malmö Citytunnel Group, a consortium comprising German company Bilfinger Berger AG, and Denmark’s Per Aarsleff A/S and E Pihl & Søn A/S. The contract covers the tunnels between Malmö Central and Holma, as well as intersecting tunnels and two access shafts, plus the rock cavity for Triangeln station.
NCC was assigned the project’s other major contract, covering construction of the underground station Malmö C Nedre, including tunnels and ramps. NCC will also carry out the southern ground and constructional work for the railway between Holma and the Öresund Line.
The Citytunnel project, which is made up of 17 kilometres of railway, connecting Malmö Central Station and the Oresund Bridge, brings together the railway systems of Southern Sweden and increases the capacity for railway traffic in the future.
The Citytunnel Project is made up of a six-kilometre-long tunnel under central Malmö and eleven kilometres of railway above ground. Malmö Central Station will be added with an underground section. New stations will be built at Triangeln and in Hyllie in south of Malmö.
The Citytunnel Project is planned to be finished in 2011.