21 Global Railway Projects in 2021 E-Book Top 21 Railway Construction Projects of 2021
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
21 GLOBAL RAILWAY PROJECTS IN 2021 E-BOOK TOP 21 RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS OF 2021 Project 1: Ho Chi Minh City Metro Line 1, Vietnam Estimated budget: $2.1 billion Line 1 of Ho Chi Minh City Metro is destined to be completed by the end of 2021. It is a 19.7km route that will connect Suoi Tien Amusement Park, District 9, with Ben Thanh, District and include 14 stations. The initial plans for Line one were approved in 2008 but serious funding issues halted construction until late 2012 and almost a decade later the line should begin carrying its first passengers. It is estimated that by 2040 this network will be used by over 800,000 passengers, every single day and eventually comprise seven different lines. Work on Line 2 work has already begun last year and is estimated to be completed in the year 2024. TOP 21 RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS OF 2021 Project 2: Lagos-Ibadan Railway Line, Nigeria Estimated budget: $1.53 billion The Lagos-Ibadan railway line has just been completed and has begun operations with passengers from January, 2021. It is known to be the first double-track gauge railway in West Africa. Prior to this enhancement the 156km journey took 2 hours and 40 minutes between Lagos and Ibadan. But, with this newly constructed route, the time has dropped to 2 hours. A $1.53 billion contract was awarded in 2012 to the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation for construction of the Lagos–Ibadan segment (156 km) of the standard gauge railway by 2016. However, the project has also faced delays. A ground-breaking ceremony finally took place on 7 March 2017, and the railway was orginally scheduled for completion in December 2018. Construction was delayed by heavy rains in Spring 2018, and the Nigerian government had to deploy soldiers to protect the railway workers from hoodlums and armed robbers. Construction was further delayed by the 2019 Nigerian general election, when CCECC evacuated its Chinese employees as a precaution. Progress was slowed in 2020 by the social distancing needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, as only 20 workers were present on construction sites that once held 2000. TOP 21 RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS OF 2021 Project 3: Beijing–Shenyang high-speed Railway, China Estimated budget: $21 billion The Beijing-Shenyang High-Speed railway in China has also been completed in the month of January 2021. The first passenger services commenced on January 22, from Chengde South to Beijing Chaoyang. The complete line of this project is stretched to 700 km and is destined to serve 16 stations in between the destinations. The lines allow trains to increase their speeds up to 200-250 km/hr. With it, this line aims to reduce the journey duration for the passengers between Beijing and Shenyang. Earlier, the distance between Beijing and Shenyang was covered in 4 hours through rail. But, with the construction of this line, the distance is now being covered in just 2 hours and 17 minutes. The construction of this line proved to be one of the vital inclusions of China’s economy, especially for the northeast region. Since the year 2018, more than 29 tests were performed here for deriving whether the track would be suitable for high-speed rail technologies. TOP 21 RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS OF 2021 Project 4: Riyadh Metro, Saudi Arabia Estimated budget: $22.5 billion Riyadh Metro, which is being constructed within the Saudi Capital City, is set for a partial opening in 2021. This partial opening schedule was pushed or delayed from its original schedule that was settled for 2019. The entire project was built upon $22.5 billion and consists of a total of 6 lines. The combined length of this line would be around 176 km, and it covers a total of 85 stations. The additional capacity to this project has been added with an intention to accommodate the growing population that is predicted to increase by around 2.5 million by the end of the next decade. Saudi Arabia proposes that, Alstom trains will run upon three different metro lines. The trains by Siemens will be running on another two routes. And, the Bombardier trains or rail vehicles will be serving on the remaining one lime of Riyadh Metro. It is considered the second metro line of Saudi Arabia, after Mecca Metro that became operational in the year 2010. Credit: Métro de Riyad © Avant Première TOP 21 RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS OF 2021 Project 5: Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, Indonesia Estimated budget: $6.5 billion This project is Indonesia’s first high-speed railway line, the construction of which was slowed down due to the pandemic. By the end of the year 2020, the construction was completed with around 60% work. There is an expectation and prediction, that this project would be completed by the end of 2021. This line is a total of 142.3 km and will run from Jakarta, Capital of Indonesia, to Bandung, West Java Province. The construction work for this line began back in 2016 in partner China who are funding $5.5 billion of the project. On completion of this line, the passenger services would be operated at a speed of 350km/hr. With this speed, the travel time will be significantly reduced. For instance, if a distance was being covered in 3 hours, high-speed trains commuting on these lines would take less than 40 minutes for the same distance. TOP 21 RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS OF 2021 Project 6: Boten–Vientiane railway, Laos Estimated budget: $6 billion Boten-Vientiane Railway, Laos, is set to open in December, 2021. The entire line stretches 414km between Boten and Vientiane. Boten is a town situated on the Chinese border, whereas Vientiane is the capital of Laos. The construction of this electrified line began back in December 2016. The route will be serving a total of 32 stations with 167 bridges and 75 tunnels within the entire stretch. The trains will reach a top speed of 160 km/hr for the passenger services and will run at 120 km/hr for freight services. The project cost is around $6 billion, and China is the largest funding country for the associated arrangements of this project. The Boten-Vientiane railway line is considered another initiative of China to extend its wide belt of connectivity for better trade routes. There are some other plans within the pipeline for running a Trans-Asia railway that will connect Yunnan to Singapore, via Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. This Trans-Asia railway will run for around 5500 km to cover all of these destinations. TOP 21 RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS OF 2021 Project 7: HS2, UK Estimated budget: £140+ billion The UK scheme to build a high speed line between London, Birmingham and Manchester has been surrounded by controversy. The project is split into two parts: the London - Birmingham section scheduled for 2026 and the Birmingham - Manchester expansion due in 2033. With the latest estimates suggesting a cost overrun of more than £22 billion and a delay of 7 years, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has launched an independent review of the project that could result in cancellation. Despite being a critic of the scheme in the past, Johnson has claimed that will not cancel the project even if the cost estimates break £100bn. He has voiced his commitment to improving infrastructure, claiming that the review is intended to identify waste and areas for improvement. Manchester, United Kingdom. Credit: Fraser Cottrell. TOP 21 RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS OF 2021 Project 8: Edmonton Valley Line West, Canada Estimated budget: $2.67 billion The Valley Line is a future 27 km, low-floor urban light rail line in Edmonton, Alberta, currently under construction It will be part of the Edmonton LRT. It will run southeast to west from Mill Woods to Lewis Farms, crossing through downtown. The line will be constructed in phases, with phase 1 being the 13.1 km, 12-station portion between Mill Woods and 102 Street (Downtown) allowing passengers to connect with the Capital Line and Metro Line at Churchill station. Construction began on April 22, 2016, with completion of phase 1 set for 2021. The Government of Canada is providing approximately $948 million for the Valley Line West expansion, and the Government of Alberta has committed approximately $1.04 billion for the project. The expansion is projected to cost approximately $2.67 billion in total. Edmonton has selected Marigold Infrastructure Partners to build the western section of the Valley Line. Preparation work, such as the relocation of underground utilities and clearing of land along the route, has already begun. Construction of the expansion is scheduled to commence in 2021, and it is expected to open in 2026 Upon completion of the entire line, the Valley Line is expected to serve more than 100,000 commuters daily, nearly matching the current Capital Line and Metro Line in terms of capacity and ridership. TOP 21 RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS OF 2021 Project 9: Tampere Light Rail, Finland Estimated budget: $400 million Tampere light rail line will witness the completion of its first phase within 2021. The first phase is of 16km that will connect from the city centre to TAYS (Tampere University Hospital) & Hervanta. Phase two will connect the journey to Lielahti & Lentavanniemi. Phase 2 is predicted to be completed by the end of 2025. The Artic trams that are provided by Skoda will be operating over the line to carry around 264 passengers. The project that is completing this year, was in the pipeline since 2001. The authorities of Tampere were planning out to introduce light rail into play since long back.