DANISH infrastructure manager Banedanmark says, despite making “significant progress,” the project to electrify the 254km Frederica - Aarhus - Aalborg - Aalborg Airport main line will not be completed as planned by December 2026 and that the delay will impact other projects in its wider electrification programme.
Banedanmark awarded a joint venture of Danish company Per Aarsleff and Siemens Mobility a DKr 2.8bn ($US 430m) contract to electrify 1300km of the main line network in May 2015. The work was originally scheduled for completion by the end of 2026, with the deadline subsequently extended until 2029.
Banedanmark told IRJ that it has so far electrified just 420km of the 1300km planned.
The precise reasons for the delay are unclear. Banedanmark told IRJ that it has “not yet reached an agreement for the reasons of the delay with the contractor” and therefore “it is not possible to provide further details about the cause of the delay of the electrification programme.”
Per Aarsleff deferred to the infrastructure manager when asked to comment on the project, while a Siemens Mobility spokesperson told IRJ that it does not comment on ongoing arbitration cases due to their sensitive and confidential nature.
The infrastructure manager also could not offer a revised completion date for the project, again citing the outcome of the ongoing negotiations.
“As the timeframe for the Fredericia - Aarhus - Aalborg project has not yet been determined, it is also too early to provide revised timescales for the other projects affected by the delay, including the Holbæk - Kalundborg line, Dronning Margrethe II’s Bridge, Nykøbing Falster station and the line to the new Rødby station,” Banedanmark says.
For more information on electrification projects, subscribe to IRJ Pro.
