Helsingborg Town is examining the possibilities to realise the greatest building project in the modern history of the town. Good communication has been an important prerequisite leading to the fact that Helsingborg has grown to become one of Sweden’s largest towns. Helsingborg will continue to be a dynamic transport and communicationcentre. Thus, the railway system through the town must be modernised. This applies to the extension of the west coast line (Västkustbanan) and the preparations leading to a new railway tunnel to Denmark, the HH-tunnel. The goal is to strengthen the railway’s competitive power and, amongst other things, to provide the possibility to build new town districts in sections of the town today blocked by the railway.
Three tunnels
Helsingborg Town has carried out technical concept studies and assessments with regard to the future northerly and southerly development stretches of the west coast line, starting from the communication hub, Knutpunkten. The analyses have been carried out together with the National Rail Administration (Banverket), the Skåne Traffic Administration, (Skånetrafiken), the Skåne County Administration (Region Skåne) and Elsinore Municipality (Helsingør kommune). To put it simply, these investigations cover plans for three new railway tunnels: northwards from Knutpunkten to Maria station, southwards from Knutpunkten to Ramlösa station, and westwards beneath Øresund over to Denmark, with a connection to the tunnel south of Knutpunkten, in Helsingborg.
The northern tunnel
The northern tunnel is necessary to enable a capacity increase along west coast line Västkustbanan, together with a double track between Helsingborg and Ängelholm. This includes an extension and complete rebuilding of Maria station to become a four-track station to meet future capacity requirements due to steadily increasing passenger numbers. The new railway stretch from Maria station means that two single-track tunnels must be bored beneath the Tågaborg district. Furthermore, track tunnels are planned beneath the main street Drottninggatan, stretching between Roskildegatan and the square Hamntorget, including shafts up to ground level. The present railway tunnel past the inner harbour (Inre Hamnen) and between the inner harbour and Knutpunkten does not need to be changed. The new stretch of railway tunnel will totally be approximately 3.5 km long. The town will continue its research with regard to the tunnel project together with the National Rail Administration during 2006.
The southern tunnel
It is of great importance to the town to build the southern tunnel, meaning that the railway line immediately south of Knutpunkten becomes subterranean. The southern tunnel will mean that the southern parts of the town that are today divided by the railway line can be integrated, opening up large, new areas of land for building development. The area has a development potential that is unique to both Sweden and the Øresund region. An estimate shows that around 800,000 m2 of dwelling and office space can become available in this area. The southern tunnel is also necessary in order to achieve a rational train traffic that can function together with the future HH-tunnel. The southern tunnel will be around 1.35 km (0.84 miles) long and a ramp will join it to the west coast line (Västkustbanan) just north of Ramlösa station. During 2006, the town will continue with its work towards the realisation of the southern tunnel and the construction start, planned for year 2011. It will also be necessary to reconstruct the southern section of Knutpunkten. One reason is the doubled amount of passengers over the past five years. Most of these passengers travel to the southern parts of the town and a further increase of this figure is expected. For safety reasons, a new entrance to the southern part of the station is also required.
The HH-tunnel
At the same time as the investigation into the forthcoming southern tunnel, an assessment to ascertain to best way to engineer a connection between the Helsingør tunnel and the southern tunnel has taken place. It has been suggested that the HH-tunnel should contain two passenger train tunnels between Knutpunkten and Helsingør as well as a freight train tunnel between the Scanian railway track (Skånebanan) at the Ramlösa goods yard and Helsingør. Studies show that the HH-tunnel should have a positive effect on the whole of the Øresund region.
