The challenges and best practices for building a railway tunnel under the mountains between two European countries. This was the subject at the centre of the discussions between TELT and Správa železnic, the Czech national railway infrastructure operator, which took place in Chambery on 25 and 26 January 2023. The two projects have many points in common. Representatives of SNCF Réseau also attended the meeting in the context of their cooperation with the Czech Railways.
A new cross-border line between Germany and the Czech Republic
Správa železnic is to build a 26-kilometre-long base tunnel for freight and passengers through the Ore Mountains, the mountain range on the border between the Czech Republic and Germany. The new line will make it possible to connect Prague and Dresden in just one hour, compared to more than two hours required today. Like the Lyon-Turin line, this project is part of the TEN-T network: it is part of the Orient/East-Mediterranean Corridor, which will connect Central Europe to the seaports of the North Sea, the Baltic, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
The topics
Several topics were discussed: the structure of the companies, the economic and financial operation and the approach to the topics of sustainability, the environment and occupational safety, as well as the management of setting up construction sites and implementing works in the areas. TELT directors illustrated the activities of the public promoter and its operation, opening the way to discussions on various topics with their Czech colleagues.
The construction site visit
The following day, the delegation visited the Avrieux construction site where the group of companies led by Vinci Construction France is implementing the four ventilation shafts of the Mont Cenis base tunnel. It was a first-hand opportunity to see the work in progress of one of the most complex infrastructures of the European network and to lay the foundations for a technical discussion about tunnelling.
This meeting is part of TELT’s process of sharing best practices in a number of areas with various organizations at an international level.
