The Western Main Line into Stockholm Central Station was brought into use in 1871 with 10 trains per day. Nowadays, there are more than 500 trains per day on the twin-track between Stockholm Central and Stockholm South, and there is a demand for even more trains. Hence, Banverket (the Swedish National Rail Administration) is planning for a new twin-track railway, Citybanan, through central Stockholm. The capacity will increase with 24 to 30 trains per hour in each direction. All types of trains (commuter, regional, Intercity and freight) will benefit from the increase in capacity. A feasibility study for the 6 km long tunnel railway was conducted during 2002-2003. Detailed design started in 2004 and the construction work is scheduled to start in 2006 and finish in 2011. The tracks will be constructed with UIC60 rails, concrete sleepers or slab track, and high-quality elastic rail fastenings. The new railway is expected to survive several generations of signalling systems. Hence, the alignment will constitute the binding constraint for permissible train speeds, both in the short and long term. This is the reason why various alignment options were calculated in detail (including all S&C work) and permissible train speeds were quantified in detail at the feasibility study stage. This paper presents the track standards from Banverket and the general approach in alignment design of Citybanan. It describes the criteria adopted for locations where margins exist to the minimum requirements, highlights certain detailed layouts and comments on a draft CEN standard for alignment design. Finally, the paper discusses the relevance of alignment expertise employed in the early planning stages of a railway project. For the covering abstract see ITRD E128680.
Abstract