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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Friday, 29.03.2024, 14:11

Rail Baltic's Muuga cargo terminal to be designed by Sweco Projekt

BC, Tallinn, 24.09.2020.Print version
AS Sweco Projekt on Wednesday entered into a contract for the design of the Muuga cargo terminal of the Rail Baltic railway project.

The value of the contract, excluding VAT, is approximately 2.2 mln euros, which will be financed from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) of the European Union.


"Reaching this agreement has been a long process, which was preceded by several analyzes and consideration of different scenarios in cooperation with Tallinna Sadam, Estonian Railways as well as the operators at Muuga," Rail Baltic Estonia management board chairman Tonu Grunberg said.


According to Grunberg, the Muuga cargo terminal is one of the most important objects of Rail Baltic, where a unique infrastructure community will be created that enables operative reloading of goods from sea and road transport to rail transport of different widths and vice versa.


"This is also the prerequisite for a smoother flow of freight from road to rail, especially in servicing trade between Central and Southern Europe over the medium distance," Grunberg added.


Five bids were received for the design procurement announced in May this year. The offer of AS Sweco Projekt was declared successful.


"Making the 1,435 millimeter and 1,520 millimeter gauge railways run simultaneously at one cargo terminal is an exciting challenge for us, which we are happy to accept," Sweco Projekt AS CEO Keijo Vaher said.


"Cooperation with Sweco Infra & Rail Oy experts from Finland ensures the availability of extensive and the best know-how to achieve a project solution that meets the most modern requirements," Vaher added.


Within the framework of the Rail Baltic project, approximately 35 kilometers of new 1,435 mm gauge railway will be designed at Muuga Harbor, in addition, approximately 11 kilometers of 1,520 mm gauge railway will be relocated and built.

 

The designer of the Muuga cargo terminal will also be responsible for the design of the cargo terminal, the connecting roads and related infrastructure of the terminal -- railway tunnel, the plant for transforming and carrying electric power for train haulage, traffic control systems, control center, rolling stock maintenance depot.


The design will run from September 2020 until the second quarter of 2022, with the first phase of construction scheduled to begin in early 2022. The construction of the Muuga cargo terminal should be completed by the end of 2025.


Currently, there are almost 30 terminal operators at Muuga Harbor that are more or less affected by the proposed solutions.


It is estimated that in the years following the completion of Rail Baltic, 4-5 mln tons of goods per year will pass through the Muuga multimodal freight terminal. The analysis carried out by Civitta Eesti AS and Deutsche Bahn Engineering & Consulting GmbH, completed in 2018, shows that in 20 years, these volumes may even double -- then 8-10 mln tons of goods per year will be handled at the cargo port.






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