CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT FOR THE RAILWAY YARD IN TORNIO AS PART OF A RAILWAY PROJECT ENABLING INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER TRAFFIC

In this contract that includes versatile electric railway and safety device construction, railway professionals from Kreate were working at the Tornio railway yard, which was part of a node of international transport and included in the pending expansion of the TEN core network around the Bothnian Arc.

As part of the construction contract for electrifying the Laurila–Tornio−Haaparanta railway section, we performed rail modifications and repairs required for electrification by, for example, constructing 3.8 kilometres of new rails, dismantling 8.1 kilometres of current rails, installing 16 new points and dismantling 22 current points. We also built a new passenger pier with retaining walls, service roads, drainage structures and a parking area. The contract also included the renewal of the safety equipment and cabling as well as the construction of new cable routes.

Our railway construction specialists also executed the technically demanding bridge works by overhauling the busy railway bridge that crosses road E8 and demolishing a second railway bridge that crosses the same European route. In order to ensure the fluent flow of train and vehicle traffic, the overhaul of the 3-track overpass and the renewal of the tracks on the bridge were executed in two blocks during the construction season 2024. The bridge work set the pace for the massive railway project that combined simultaneous work stages for structural engineering, safety device construction and superstructure construction.

Approximately 50,000 m³ of earth were moved and approximately 50,000 m³ of structural layers were constructed during the railway yard repair project. As part of Kreate’s sustainability work, circular economy was actively promoted at the worksites. In Tornio, for example, this was implemented by efficiently utilising the land masses generated locally, which reduced the carbon footprint from construction and provided cost savings. Contaminated soil was also being remediated at the worksite.

Updating the railway yard and passenger pier arrangements was part of the project to electrify the Laurila−Tornio−Haaparanta railway section, where prerequisites were built for starting cross-border passenger traffic. The Laurila−Tornio−Haaparanta railway project was a joint project of the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency, the National Emergency Supply Agency and Trafikverket, the Swedish transport administration.

Kreate started the preparatory construction work at the Tornio railway yard in October 2023. The actual construction will begin in spring 2024 and conclude by the end of 2024. The value of this contract, commissioned by the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency, was nearly EUR 7 million.