Planning the underground sections for the Malmoe City Tunnel

Malmoe, the third largest town in Sweden, is about to get a new underground railway line. Planning for the project started in 1995, construction will start in 2004 and inauguration of the rail service is planned for 2009. The City Tunnel Project includes construction of 17 km new railway line of which 6 km is underground with three new stations, Malmoe Central Railway station, Triangeln and Hyllie. The new Malmoe Central Railway station is constructed as a cut and cover tunnel, 42 m wide and depth varying from 10-30 m. With 320 m long platforms and four tracks, it will be fully integrated into the existing Malmoe Central station as well as the existing public transport and Sweden's national rail network. From Malmoe Central station the railway line continues in a cut and cover tunnel where the number of tracks is reduced to two. A 4.5 km long twin bored tunnel takes the railway line under the central part of the city. The two tunnels constructed by TBMs are connected with 13 cross passages at nominal spacings of 325 m in order to provide escape routes for passengers. Shafts for rescue access are located adjacent to two cross passages. Approximately at the midpoint of the bored tunnel the underground cavern station Triangeln is located in the commercial centre of Malmoe. Triangeln Station, with 250 m long platforms and two tracks, will be constructed using the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM). Towards south of the town the tunnel terminates in a cut and cover tunnel and an open ramp, which takes the railway line to the commuter station Hyllie located at grade. The City Tunnel Project shall contribute to making central Malmoe a regional centre and reduce the environmental impact of the existing surface railway lines in the city of Malmoe. The project shall also strengthen the development of towns in Scania County served by railway and strengthen the competitiveness of the national public railway system. The geological conditions along the project alignment consist in general of limestone formations. Overlying the limestone are quaternary soils which again have recent deposits on the top. The largest thickness of recent deposits is found near the harbour, where land reclamation has taken place. These thick fill deposits may settle significantly if groundwater lowering occurs. Construction techniques have been chosen to minimise ground water lowering and settlement damage to the existing buildings. All environmental effects of the project have been estimated and documented prior to start of construction works. A new Swedish environmental legislation requires that an Environmental Court must approve the project. This court shall, based on reports produced by the Client, evaluate the effects of the project on water resources (both surface and groundwater) and possible adverse effects of the project on the environment. The court will eventually approve the project and define the environmental conditions to be adhered to during the construction and operation of the railway line. (A). "Reprinted with permission from Elsevier". For the covering abstract see ITRD E124500.

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  • English

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  • Accession Number: 01011534
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
  • Files: ITRD
  • Created Date: Dec 19 2005 3:16PM