Ceremonial Launch of the Bystřice nad Olší – Český Těšín Railway Line Optimization

12. 05. 2010

On 12 May 2010, another significant construction project implemented as a part of the Transit Railway Corridor III – Optimization of Bystřice nad Olší – Český Těšín Railway Line – was ceremonially launched in Třinec. The construction work was started in June last year and is planned to be completed in March 2012. The investor of the construction project is the Railway Infrastructure Administration, state organization (RIA).

The RIA CEO, Jan Komárek, said: “It is a standard line construction that has been executed on the existing track bed practically at its full extent. The railway line will be newly routed to the Ropice stopping point. The original 1,200-meter-long railway track will then be reclaimed. The safety of the railway and motorway traffic will be enhanced significantly since, as a part of the construction project, there will be four new subways built which will replace the current level crossings with surface communications. The remaining six railway crossings will be secured with cutting edge technologies and full barriers.” The construction project starts at the 305.807 km mark in the Bystřice nad Olší railway station, where it follows the corridor optimization that is also underway in Bystřice nad Olší – Mosty u Jablunkova – the state border with Slovakia, and finishes at the 317.296 km mark at the access point to the Český Těšín railway station. It also includes two sections between stations, modernization of the Třinec railway station and reconstruction of the Vendryně, Třinec-Konská and Ropice stopping points. The contract also includes the reconstruction of the Třinec traction substation. “The total length of the optimized section is 11,489 m and the construction project is divided into 166 construction structures and 59 operational units in total,” said Michal Štefl, the Chairman of the Board and CEO of OHL ŽS, a.s. today. The optimization comprises of railway substructure and superstructure reconstruction, the reconstruction of platforms, including the construction of grade-separated approaches to island platforms, rehabilitation of the false floor of the railway substructure, and construction of over ground structures to accommodate technological facilities. New traction and cable lines, telecommunication and signalling facilities along with lighting will be installed along the whole railway section.

A new bridge will appear on the railway line relocation at the Ropice stopping point and 18 railway bridges and 6 culverts will be reconstructed in total. The new pedestrian subways at the Vendryně and Třinec-Konská stopping points will be equipped with lifts for barrier-free access to platforms. A new steel pedestrian over-path will be built at the Vendryně stopping point, and the pedestrian over- path at the railway station will be repaired. The construction work will always be performed on one track without any operational interruption and in accordance with the approved traffic closure schedule.

The investor of the construction project with the total cost amounting to nearly CZK 2.9 billion (excluding VAT) is the Railway Infrastructure Administration, state organization. The financial means were provided by the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure and concurrently, an application was submitted for the project to be co-financed by the European Union under the Transport Operational Programme, where the planned contribution from the Cohesion Fund will exceed CZK 1.38 billion. The application for a subsidy was approved by the Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic in November 2009 and the authorization process on the European Commission level will follow. The contractor is the “BYČT” consortium, with OHL ŽS, a.s. (the consortium lead member), Subterra a.s. and Eiffage Construction Česká republika, s.r.o. as its members. The project design was developed by SUDOP PRAHA a.s.