FOLLO LINE BENCHMARKING

The new Follo Line, most of which runs through a tunnel, links Oslo to Ski and will become the main axis for south-eastern Norway’s rail traffic in the future. On behalf of Jernbaneverket, the infrastructure operator, R+R reviewed the project costs and correlated them with comparable international projects as part of a benchmarking study.

The existing main railway line from Oslo towards the south-east is heavily used and is relatively slow on account of its routing. In order to improve the situation, the construction of a new 25-km line (most of which passes through a tunnel) directly connecting the cities of Oslo and Ski has been incorporated into the National Transport Plan for 2010-2019. The project is complemented by structural expansion work near the Oslo and Ski junctions. A start was made on the planning work for the Follo Line Project in 2010. Once it is completed, the Follo Line will serve as the new main axis for rail traffic between Oslo and the region to the east of the Oslo Fjord, as well as for long-haul and international traffic to Sweden. The project will create an additional fast and efficient axis for traffic in this corridor where usage is already heavy, thereby meeting one of the fundamental requirements for an attractive offering of transport services.

On behalf of the client, the Norwegian railway network operator Jernbaneverket, R+R carried out a cost benchmarking exercise on the available cost estimates. The first step was to analyse the cost structures in detail. Based on the extensive technical documentation, key costings were determined. The work focused on a comparison of the key costings for the Follo Line with the corresponding figures from the extensive project database assembled by R+R under the auspices of the Infracost project, based on cost data for over 200 international rail projects in the last 20 years. It is evident that the construction costs for the Follo Line tunnel are somewhat less than the average for comparable projects, whereas the costs of the earthworks and the technical rail equipment are above the average. The analysis singles out those areas with above-average costs, identifies the cost drivers and provides Jernbaneverket with indications of possible savings potentials and suggestions for future measures to reduce costs.