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| Diabolo, northern rail link for Brussels Airport On Sunday 10 June, Infrabel will make the new Diabolo railway infrastructure available to the railway operators. The date also marks the commercial commissioning of the northern railway access to Brussels Airport for passengers. Diabolo is a strategic railway link for the Airport and Brussels, with connections to domestic and international railway corridors. The Diabolo is the (underground) railway connection between Brussels-National-Airport station and the new dual-track railway line Schaerbeek – Mechelen (L.25N) along the central reservation of the E19 motorway. This northern link in the railway axis Antwerp – Mechelen – Brussels constitutes the next important step in improved access of Brussels Airport by rail. From Mechelen it will now take about 10 minutes to get to the Airport by rail; from Antwerp around 30 minutes - either way, it is a 30 minute gain as compared to current travel times. The first step was building the Nossegem curve (two tracks of about 1 km), the eastern rail link in the axis Liege - Limburg - Leuven that was taken into operation on 11 December 2005. The curve saves passengers from Flemish and Walloon Brabant, Limburg and Liege between 15 and 40 minutes in travel time to and from the airport. The combined northern and eastern access constitutes the Diabolo, which is named after the toy with the same name. Thanks to Diabolo, Brussels Airport will be directly connected with the major axes of the Belgian network and with several European cities, via the international axes Amsterdam - Antwerp - Brussels - Paris and Frankfurt – Liege – Brussels – Paris. After completion of the Belgian high-speed network, which since 8 December 2009 has been in service from border to border (in the direction of France, Germany and the Netherlands and in the direction of Great Britain through the Eurotunnel), Belgium once again has strategically positioned itself at the centre of Europe. The total investment for Diabolo amounts to 678 million euros (at 2012 price level) and includes works financed with private investment in the PPP as well as with public investment (Infrabel). The European Union contributed 15 million euros for construction of the Schaerbeek – Mechelen railway line (= part of the public investment). Through Northern Diabolo NV, the private partner financed construction of the underground rail connection for a fixed amount of 290 million euros. By means of the government grant, Infrabel invested 388 million euros (at 2012 price level) in the Schaerbeek – Mechelen overground railway line and the railways works and additional works for the underground route. This investment amout also includes effects of the price indexation through inflation of the original estimates of 2004. In addition, it also includes the necessary additional works to completely connect the Diabolo to the existing railway network. Without a doubt, the most spectacular part of the Diabolo project was the computer- and laser-driven boring of the two single-track tunnel shafts at 16.5 metres below the key runways of Brussels Airport. Using a tunnel boring machine ('Hydro Mix shield') of 66 metres long, both 1.07 km long tunnels were excavated separately, ensuring that air traffic was not hindered during the works. The German company Herrenknecht delivered two boring shields (Danté and Niña) that carried out approx. 13 metres of excavation works per day. At the airport site, Infrabel connected the tunnels to a new underground rail and switching complex at Pier A. This forms part of the entirely renovated Brussels-National-Airport station, which consists of three modern and extended platforms (each measuring 425 metres) for the purpose of enabling optimum management of international trains and all passengers in the new reception infrastructure. The connection with the new railway line along the E19's central reservation was realised through two underground branch lines and access slopes. The total length of the Diabolo (from the airport platform to the branch line in Machelen) measures 4 km as regards the branch towards Brussels and 3.4 km as regards the branch towards Antwerp, the latter being shorter due to its shorter slope. In the northern area, Infrabel will be constructing a railway bypass for delivery by 2016, which will connect to Line 25N and Diabolo. The goal is to further increase capacity on the strategic connection Brussels - Antwerp - the Netherlands. Infrabel also plans to build two additional tracks and two new platforms at the back of Mechelen station, which tie in with the Mechelen Station Surroundings Master Plan. This rail bypass is also vital for the Regional Express Network or RER (horizon 2020), which will contribute to a significant improvement of mobility in and around our capital. An important link in this frame is the future railway link Watermael-Schuman-Josaphat. By late 2015 the railway tunnel in Brussels-East will provide a direct and faster (approximately 15 minutes) connection between the European quarter (Brussels-Schuman and Brussels-Luxemburg) and Brussels Airport. write your comments about the article :: © 2012 Construction News :: home page |