19.11.2013
On November 6-7, at the initiative of the Rail Baltic project steering group and organized by the planning consultant, a visit of project-related parties to Umeå, Sweden took place. The purpose of the visit was to get acquainted with a railway similar to the planned Rail Baltic route, using the example of the actually constructed Botnia railway line, Botniabana.
The Estonian parties were welcomed on site by the Swedish consultancy firm WSP, which is part of the Rail Baltic project team, and the local company Botniabanan AB, which is part of the Swedish Transport Administration and was created to build the Botnia line. On the Estonian side, officials involved in Rail Baltic planning from county governments, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, the Technical Supervision Authority, and consultants preparing the plan took part in the event.
The Botniabana is a modern railway connecting cities on the east coast of Sweden, from Umeå to Nyland, and is one of the largest modern railway projects in Sweden. The Botniabana railway line is nearly 200 km long and allows speeds of up to 250 km/h. Considering its location in the Nordic countries and a region with a similar population density to Estonia, the Botniabana is a good example for planning Rail Baltic.
In addition, Botniabana is one of the first railways in Sweden to be equipped with the European Rail Traffic Management System ERTMS. ERTMS has established a uniform standard for signalling equipment throughout Europe, which controls and, if necessary, slows down the speed of trains. This allows trains to move smoothly on compatible national railway networks without delays, additional controls and additional adjustments. ERTMS, as a modern high-performance system, helps to create a unified railway area and is also used in the current Rail Baltic project.
On the first day of the visit, 6 November, the participants were introduced to the Botnia Line project in the form of a seminar. Presentations were made by Botniabanan AB project managers Alf Karlsson and Håkan Hellqvist, the responsible environmental expert working on the project, Stefan Uppenberg, and Umeå City Councilor Lennart Holmlund. Useful information and experience for the planning of the Rail Baltic project were exchanged in the form of a discussion.
On November 7, the constructed railway was inspected on the terrain, Botniabanan AB specialists introduced the key issues of the project and the most complex and interesting solutions of the constructed railway. For example, low noise barriers, up to 50 cm high, in the immediate vicinity of the sleepers stood out, which allowed to mitigate noise at its source without significantly affecting the surrounding space. The noise generated by the trains was barely noticeable, which is why the fact that the railway runs directly through cities did not cause any surprise.
The examples and experiences gained during the visit will also be useful support in the planning and design of Rail Baltic in Estonia.
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