BAM Rail constructing tram line in Edinburgh
Bunnik, Netherlands, 30 May 2008 - BAM Rail (the subsidiary of Royal BAM Group specialised in rail-related services) has been granted a contract from Siemens as a subcontractor for the construction of a tram line in Edinburgh, the United Kingdom. The contract includes the construction of nine kilometres of double-track tram line in the centre of Edinburgh as well as ten kilometres in the direction of the suburbs and the airport to the west of the Scottish capital. The total building costs amount to approximately € 40 million.
The BAM Rail work is a part of an extensive contract that will be executed from October 2008 by a consortium made up of Bilfinger Berger and Siemens at the instructions of TIE, Transportation Initiatives Edinburgh, a project organisation of the City of Edinburgh.
BAM Rail is responsible for the construction of nineteen kilometres of embedded rail in the centre of Edinburgh, twelve kilometres of ballasted sections and seven kilometres of tracks on a concrete surface as well as sixty switches within the turnkey project. The embedded Rheda rail system was used for the first time by BAM Rail when constructing HSL-Zuid in the Netherlands. BAM Rail will be using the Rheda City system, a simplified version of the ballastless track system, in Edinburgh where the rails and sleepers are concreted into place using concrete slabs.
It is expected that the tram line will be delivered at the end of 2010. After a testing period of a few months, the first trams will be running between the airport and the port of Edinburgh during the first half of 2011.
Further information: A.C. Pronk, + 31 (0)30 659 86 21.