Gothenburg rail work for NCC

Contractor NCC has been commissioned by the Swedish Transport Administration to construct the central station phase of the West Link rail project in Gothenburg.

NCC’s involvement will comprise an underground commuter train station and about 2km of railway tunnelling. The Transport Administration has budgeted some SEK3 billion (€323.3 million) for this phase of the project.

The contract will be performed under a new model called Early Contractor Involvement (ECI). This means that NCC, in close co-operation with the Transport Administration, will account for project planning and cost optimisation of the project.

NCC said the order would be registered when the target cost had been decided, which will be in late 2017.

Svante Hagman, business area manager, NCC Infrastructure, said the company was positive about the fact that the Transport Administration had decided to procure this project as an ECI contract.

“This co-operative format will enable us to integrate our organisations and create joint understanding of the challenges that a project of this size involves,” he said. “We have previously worked in close co-operation on large-scale tunnel projects, such as the City Tunnel in Malmö and the Stockholm City Line, which has given us valuable experience in terms of sustainable technical solutions and the use of leading-edge technology in civil engineering works.”

The total project comprises a railway tunnel from the E6 Highway in the east, a rock tunnel through the Lejonet redoubt, an underground commuter train station located immediately north of Gothenburg Central Station, and the remaining railway tunnel to the west up to the Gothenburg Opera House – a section of nearly 2km.

A bridge over the E6 Highway may possibly also be included in the project.

Construction is estimated to start in 2018 and the project is scheduled to continue until 2026.