Peab commissioned for US$38m rail job

The locality of Lärje just outside the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. This will be the new location of a rail depot. (Image: Peab)

The Swedish Transport Administration granted the contract to the Sweden-based contractor as part of an initiative to increase capacity and accessibility of train traffic in the Gothenburg area.

The city of Gothenburg is the country’s second largest with a metropolitan population of approximately 1.1 million people.

In all, the build will put in 5,000m of new railway track, 18 switches, overhead lines, and signalling systems. Peab will also be responsible for the needed earthwork to complete the job.

The necessity of the improvement in Lärje – located roughly 5.5km from Gothenburg’s city centre – stem from another ongoing rail project in the city: the West Link.

The West Link (also called ‘Västlänken’) project is an underground railway currently under construction, which will service the city of Gothenburg and the surrounding area. It will be a double-track system with 290-km line length and 8-km track length. It’s estimated it will cost in the range of US$3.9 billion, and it made KHL’s list of ‘Europe’s most impressive tunnel projects’ in 2022.

With changes afoot, a larger space to park unused trains was needed.

“When the West Link opens, traffic will change, and more trains will need to be parked when they are not in service,” said Peab. “Lärje has been identified as a suitable location for this, mainly due to its proximity to the central railway network, including the West Link.”

The entire West Link project is scheduled to finish in 2030. Once complete, three stations will connect via tunnel to provide commuter rail services.

Registered for Peab’s first quarter books, the project is scheduled to commence this month and finish in the summer of 2027.