Worldwide rail tunnel

Leipzig City Rail Tunnel, Germany



Leipzig old terminus transport network
image cred: Net Resources International.



Leipzig is located at Sachsen of Germany. It has a population of 510,000 in 2007. The total length of the railway line to be built is 5.3km, with the establishment of five new stations. The project of a rail tunnel is set for transforming its transport links in both the urban area and south-east Germany as a whole (Net Resources International, 2011).The new built rail tunnel will also replace the current Leipzig’s terminus system for generating more efficient outcome for its urban and local transport services.

As with many urban-based rail projects, the city tunnel scheme aims to encourage public transport use, the projection being to save an equivalent number of 320,000km by car each day. As results of it, more jobs can be created for the local community. Particular techniques are incorporated in this project for the purpose of preservation of historical buildings and reduce its noise levels. In terms of services, a cross-mode ticketing will apply with other transport services covering regional trains, buses and trams.

the new rail tunnel project underway
Image Cred: Net Resources International.



new railway system
Photo Cred: Net Resources International.

The tunnel is projected to be finish soon in this year.

Japan: Seikan Submarine Tunnel

The Seikan Submarine Tunnel in Japan is regarded as the longest Railway Tunnel which is constructed beneath a Seabed.



Japan Seikan Rail
Photo Cred: Japan Atlas Architecture



indication of the submarine construction
Image Cred: Architectual Guidance

It was first opened in 1988 and runs beneath the seabed of the Tsugaru Strait (Japan Atlas Architecture, 2011). The length of the tunnel is 53.85 km, which makes it as the world’s longest till now, moreover, it is also regarded as the deepest railway line in the world for it runs 240 meters below the sea surface. What is the most attractive to me is that two stations are provided inside the tunnel and they both are just located under the coastal line, as it provides tour courses for the tourists and its local communities.

To get a real experience of travelling inside the tunnel, the video below is provided:

Swiss Tunnel- to breakthrough with the world’s longest rail tunnel

The project currently under construction in Swiss is to be built the world’s longest tunnel of 57km that aims at cutting journey times and solve congestion problems on the road. The tunnel will enable trains to travel from Basel in the north to South of the country in just two hours. There are around 2,500 workers occupied in this project and it is to be finished in 2017.

The funding of the tunnel’s construction is sought from the local communities, complaints have been wide-cross for its high cost, and this is regarded as one of the biggest risk for this project.



the Swiss Tunnel currently under construction
Photo Cred: Guardian News and Media



Furthermore in addition, there are other rail tunnel projects are currently underway. Such as the Melbourne Metro Rail Tunnel in Australia. Animation of this project is provided at the link: http://www.transport.vic.gov.au/web23/Home.nsf/AllDocs/C8E007130C138F60CA2577EA0005C39B?OpenDocument, which is quite attractive to me.

Reference:

Davies, L. (2010) Swiss to breakthrough with world’s longest rail tunnel, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/15/gotthard-base-tunnel-switzerland, (accessed: 27/April/2011).
Japan Atlas Architecture. (2010) Seikan Submarine Tunnel,
http://web-japan.org/atlas/architecture/arc02.html, (accessedL 24/april/2011).

Net Resources International, (2011) Leipzig City Tunnel, Germany,

http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/leipzig_tunnel/, (accessed: 27/April/2011).

 

harbour crossing overseas

Hong Kong’s Western Harbour Crossing. The Western Harbour Crossing is a dual 3-lane immersed tube runnel. It is built as the third tunnel across the Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. Problems have been raised throughout the years since the tunnel was built with regard to its high tolls charged to users. One reason for this is that as the project was constructed partly by a private company, which is known as the Western Tunnel Company Limited, compared to the other government funded and owned tunnel, the charges appear more expensive. Complaints and suggestion have been raised for lower tolls for use of this tunnel and also, with some suggestion that it is better for letting the local government buy back the tunnel from the current private owners, therefore the current issues of traffic congestion can be solved.



Western Crossing in Hong Kong
photo Cred: Koster



Road Toll Charge system
Photo Cred: Parsons Brinckerhoff (Asia)



Project: Auckland CBD rail loop

Plans for an underground rail loop from Britomart southward underneath the CBD to Mt Eden have been carried out by the government since the last year in September 2010. This plan is regarded as a critical enabler of transforming economic development for the new Super City and a key element of the rapid transit plan (Len Brown). The picture below shows the proposed Auckland CBD rail loop map:


It is showed in the map that the tunnel which run between Mt Eden and Britomart, takes in Khyber Pass road, Symonds St and K Rd, with the opportunity for three train station locations at Symonds St/Khyber Pass Rd; K Rd/Pitt St and on Albert St between Victoria and Wellesley Sts.

The plan is made in a primary purpose for dealing with the large number of people who travel into the CBD by using the public transport. According to NZHerald, it says currently almost 58,000 people travel into CBD for work and education every week day morning at peak, with almost 33,000 of them using public transport. And it is obvious that the number of travellers will increase within a few years in the future.

The photo below shows that the proposed rail loop will ultimately be linked with the existing public transport network:



CBD rail loop with the four proposed stations



Reference:

APN Holdings NZ Limited, (2010) Project Auckland: Rail loop plans underway at last, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/economy/news/article.cfm?c_id=34&objectid=10673135, (accessed: 02/05/2011).

overview of discussion on new harbour crossing

l  Toll being considered for new harbour crossing (Source from One News)

This discussion was raised by the Auckland Transport Minister Steven Joyce recently in March 23 2011.

A report of Transport Agency (NZTA) has indicated that the built of a new harbour crossing would cost about $3.9 billion for a bridge and about 5.3 billion for a tunnel. The funding for the crossing would come from taxpayer and ratepayer money and also a toll on users.

l  Auckland Mayor Len Brown said he preferred a tunnel. But time for built is to be considered, it would take about 15 years.

Brown also assisted that it was critical o anticipate growth on the North Shore over the next 20 to 25 years, and the built of a new harbour crossing would help to achieve the growth.

l  NZTA report indicates a bridge would have a marginally higher cost benefit ratio than a tunnel but obtaining consent for a bridge is improbable.

l  Further, Brown also argued that there’s a need to have a rail link to the North Shore.

l  Former North Shore Mayor George Wood said he neither of the two options for a new harbour crossing caters for future growth and he suggested that a lot more work was required on behalf of the government and the council.

l  Most recently, an UMR Research poll has showed a result that Aucklanders in favour of harbour rail link. It found that 79 percent of 241 Aucklanders in favour of installing railway lines across the harbour- whether on a new bridge or through tunnels (Source from NZHerald, by Mathew Dearnaley)

rail option which are supported by more commuters

l  In summary, we can see that there has been a lot of discussion carried out about what is the best option for building for a new harbour crossing. And a lot good ideas have been generated with regard to the new crossing, however, funding and cost for building is always the primary issue facing the whole community.

Background: a new harbor crossing is needed for Auckland

As Auckland continues to grow in the following years, with more vehicles running on the road between North Shore and the CBD, managing Auckland’s cross-harbouur traffic flows has been agreed as one of the biggest issue facing the region in the near future. Studies have found that the number of vehicles crossing the Harbour Bridge each day has risen by over 30 percent in the last 20 years, and similar growth rate is expected over the coming 20 years (Anzac Centenary Bridge, 2011).

Therefore there will be a crucial need for having another harbor crossing to cope with the increasing number of vehicles, since the Harbour Bridge would reach its limits of what it can carry in terms of weight and volume, its structure of having a clip-on could also give rise to regular maintenance costs.



Auckland Harbour Bridge



The Harbour Bridge



There are generally two options to be considered for the public:

l  Tunnel

Previously, a tunnel was preferred as an adequate solution to meet Auckland’s long term transport needs, as NZTA report identified the option as a combination of the existing bridge and at least two new tunnels will be built in the future. The tunnel is designated to include up to sic traffic lanes, as well as two rail tracks. The estimated cost of building the enw tunnels is $3.7-4.1 billion.

l  Bridge

Then later in 2010, the government introduced an alternative option of a bridge as for the new Harbour Crossing.

Although there have been a great number of discussion on what can be the best option for the second harbour crossing, one thing can be ensured is that a new Harbour Crossing is crucially needed for the continual growing of the city and the prosperity of the whole community.

Varieties of discussion on the new harbour crossing will be summarised and discussed in the next article.

Discussion over the CBD Rail Loop project

The CBD rail loop is a public transport project which is to be seen to have the potential to transform the Auckland rail network, giving Aucklanders real transport choices, as acknowledged by the Green Party.

This project of building a rail loop in the city’s CBD has been largely advocated by the Green Party for which it sees the project has a great potential to revitalize the Auckland CBD and it’s also suggested that the first step to getting rail links to other locations such as the airport and North Shore in future (Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, 2011).

There is lots of discussion over the plan for this project. Much of the discussion seems to have an attitude of supporting for the construction of a CBD rail loop. Such as the Scoop reported the article named, CBD Rail Loop or 23 motorway lanes,

explained clearly the ideas come from the Green Party which has a big support on this project, as linked below:

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1011/S00498/cbd-rail-loop-or-23-motorway-lanes.htm.

Furthermore, there’s also discussion over the issue of the location of railway stations along the proposed rail tunnel line. It has been suggested by Mike Lee, as Auckland Regional Council’s chairman that, to add more underground stations to the rail tunnel below the central business district in comparison to only two stations that are proposed for now. This suggestion has been approved by many government officials, one of them representative is a councilor from North Shore Council, Joel Cayford. As his ideas is explained in a quite condensed way like this:

“1) Auckland's state highway network - love it or hate it - was planned more or less completely in the 1960's and 1970's. Yet it is only today that the last sections of it are being built. That network was planned to accommodate development and expansion of Auckland, both in terms of land use, population and economic development over a long period of time. As money became available, the top priority sections of that network were built.

2) Auckland's current railway network is pretty much as it was designed almost a hundred years ago. A few new bits have been planned. The Manukau Spur is an example. The Airport Rail link is currently being planned. And a designation to protect the proposed Britomart Rail tunnel section - which was conceived in the 1920's - is to be planned in detail and protected in work that is happening now.

3) But it is piecemeal compared to the planning that is needed if Auckland is going to back itself over the next 30 - 50 years with an electrified rail system, and commit to it.

4) Perth decided to go down the rail route, and decided also to get major bus services out of its CBD. There are still inner CBD bus services, but the line haul bus services now don't go into the centre of Perth. Instead commuters transfer to high capacity electric rail services to get into the CBD. You can see how pleasant Auckland CBD would be without buses during the recent strike. But that can only happen if rail services are commensurate, and planned.

5) Auckland talks about 5 minutes services, but only delivers 12 minute services. Even with electrification the service frequency discussed is still inadequate. How can Auckland get to the 15,000/hour capacity enjoyed by line haul Perth rail services? Do the maths: Assume Auckland has 6 car trains, with each car carrying 100 people. That's 600/train. How many do you need/hour to move 15,000? It's one train every 2.4 minutes.....

6) I won't go on in this blog, but the guts of my argument is that Auckland CBD needs a network of rail services. Not just a single line around the edge. This network needs stations at major destinations including Aotea Square, University/AUT, Hospital/Domain. Otherwise we will just continue being a little - little city, with hundreds of diesel buses cluttering up the streets.

This network won't be built in a day, just as Auckland's state highway network wasn't. But it was planned for the long term. I believe that the strategic planning to support the Britomart Tunnel designation should include preliminary work on the CBD rail network. We may build the Britomart Tunnel and link first, but let's have a better idea about how it will connect with other parts of the rail network.”

Therefore, it is expected that the CBD rail link will be projected to include four stations located across this area, for meeting the future needs of the travelers and to make the city more sustainable and generating more benefits for the city’s economic development, a comprehensive strategic planning has to be sought by the government to decide the best option for building an effluent and effective transport network for the future.

Reference:

Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, 2011, Fast-Track the CBD Rail Loop, http://www.greens.org.nz/superrail, (accessed: 02/05/2011).

New Zealand’s Independent News Media, 2011, CBD Rail Loop or 23 motorway lanes?, http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1011/S00498/cbd-rail-loop-or-23-motorway-lanes.htm, (accessed: 02/05/2011).

 

Auckland transport issues & CBD transport planning projects

A large number of complaints have been made throughout these years on Auckland City’s transport networks. The motorists complain about the traffic chaos as one of the biggest issues when they travel around the city every day. Moreover, as Auckland continues to grow to a population of 1.5 and eventually reach to the number of 2 million in the coming years, it is particularly crucial for the local government to seek various ways to improve the current provision of transport network and to solve these complex issues in relation to the transportation in the city, especially to focus on the issues of the Harbour Cross and development of public transport system, such as the railway development.

Advises have been made on solving the issues of traffic congestion that are predominantly taking place in Auckland. The article written by Keith Rankin which I found online may present an idea from an individual, 
http://pl.net/~keithr/rf99growthAuckland.html.

Large debates over Auckland’s transport issues are also raised by the governments for a same purpose for fixing the problems. Much debate over the funding for new development to be carried on road and support for the public transport system.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/video.cfm?c_id=1&gal_objectid=10677845&gallery_id=113945

Transport has been seen as one of the primary issues in Auckland. The development and continued growth in the city will put more pressure on this. For generating the best result and solving the issues, government has focused on a number of key projects that are being planned and proposed to be done within a few years, two of the outstanding projects involve construction of CBD rail loop and the bring back of the tramway. Other related issues on CBD tranport planning are also included in this blog, such as the widespread discussion over the second harbouur crossing and effectiveness of Auckland transport planning.