Projects: Transportation infrastructures
WIDENING OF THE BILBAO-DONOSTIA RAILWAY (USURBIL-LASARTE)
DETAILED DESIGN PROJECT FOR THE WIDENING OF THE USURBIL – LASARTE SECTION OF THE BILBAO – DONOSTIA RAILROAD LINE.
Mejorar las condiciones de la traza, los tiempos de viaje y las condiciones de confort y seguridad
Area of activity
TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURES
Service
Railways, subway and LRT
Client
ETS – Euskal Trenbide Sarea
Scope
- Detailed design project development
Duration
2010-2011
The railway lines managed by ETS have a high percentage of their length with single-track routes, which makes their operation (basically for passenger traffic) very difficult and limits their overall transport capacity considerably. This makes freight transport minimal.
In order to find solutions to this situation, a series of construction projects are being carried out to double the track along sections of the Bilbao-San Sebastian commuter line. The aim is to allow its execution in phases with the consequent maintenance of rail traffic.
The section that is the object of this project belongs to the Bilbao-San Sebastián line, and is located between the urban centers of Usurbil and Lasarte. It runs on a single track for an approximate length of 2,500 m along a route whose most singular elements are the 134 m Bizkarre tunnel, the 272 m Txikierdi tunnel, the Usurbil station (located just before the beginning of the section), the Santaenea, Irubieta 2º, Txara and Txikierdi pedestrian level crossings, and the Lasarte rail yard located just at the end of the section. It is also worth mentioning the overpasses of both the National N-634 and a road that allows access to a residential building.
The purpose of this construction project is to define the works corresponding to the widening of the entire section of the railway line, replacement of the existing overpasses and roads, definition of the provisional layout variants, improvement of the urban and environmental insertion, analysis and proposal for the conditioning of the existing tunnels, proposals to minimize the impact on the N-634 provincial road and proposal defined for the elimination of the existing level crossings.
The new route is intended to improve the conditions of the current layout, travel times and comfort and safety conditions for passengers. Also to minimize and reduce as much as possible the impact on the infrastructure and maintenance work.