Upgrading of Oulu-Laurila railway for dual use

ongoing

The railway section Oulu-Laurila in northern Finland is part of both the Scandinavian–Mediterranean and North Sea– Baltic Sea TEN-T core network corridors and is part of the global project to develop the Bothnian Corridor cross-border railway section Oulu (Finland)-Luleå (Sweden). The section is a key connection in northern Finland for both passenger and freight traffic to and from eastern and southern Finland. The main scope of the Project is to upgrade railway infrastructure to improve the competitiveness of sustainable rail transports, to improve capacity and safety, and to transfer traffic flows from road to rail. In addition, the Project will improve connectivity, resilience, sustainability, and effectiveness of military transports. The goal of the Project is to remove bottlenecks of insufficient railway infrastructure that create capacity constraints and safety risks on the track section, reflecting widely to connecting network. The Project will upgrade 30 railway bridges, remove 16 and upgrade one railway level crossing, construct a new passing loop in Kello, Oulu, and prepare construction plans for removal of further 11 railway level crossings. The goal of the construction works is to improve the capacity and performance of existing lines, including removal of level-crossings and upgrades necessary for 740 meters long trains and upgrades necessary to facilitate international rail passenger and freight transport. In addition, they contribute to adapting TEN-T network to enable civilian-defence dual use.