Drilling begins on Sabadell train tunnel

Sabadell (ACN).- Drilling began today for the extension of the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) railway line. A total of 4.4 kilometres will be added to the line, extending the railway service from Sabadell-Estació to the area of Ca n'Oriac. Four new stations will also be constructed in Sabadell. The Catalan Minister for Public Works, Joaquim Nadal, assures that the new services will improve both internal and external mobility to and from Sabadell, working like a metro for the city.

The tunnel boring machine has begun the slow process of perforating into the subsoil of the city in order to build the rail tunnel. Of the planned 4.4 kilometre trajectory, 2.9 kilometres will be drilled using the tunnel-boring machine and the rest will be constructed using slurry walling. The tunnel boring machine will be running 24 hours a day for more than a year to be able to complete this part of the construction by the end of 2011.

Minister Nadal explained that the tunnel-boring machine will fill the tunnel with concrete at the same time that it is drilling. He assured that previous experience with the Barcelona metro and the machine’s technology guarantees a safe construction process. The machine also has an external system that is able to detect possible vibrations that are caused by the drilling.

In total, the operation will cover over 5 kilometres and cost 400 million euros. 4 new stations will be built in the city of Sabadell (Plaça Major, Eix Macià, Plaça Espanya and Ca n'Oriac) in addition to the current Sabadell-Estació. Construction has begun on many of the stations as well.