On 04.09.2013 the TBM Asa had its final breakthrough on the north side of Hallandsas, completing the second 8.7 km-long tube for the double-track railway tunnel. Opening for traffic is expected in 2015.

The West Coast Line currently consists of 85 percent double track. The sharp curves on the single track over the Hallandsas ridge constitute the line’s greatest remaining bottleneck. When the tunnel opens a doubling of rail freight tonnage will be possible, and the number of trains can be increased from four to 24/hour, with trains running at 200 km/h instead of the current 80 km/h.

After the project had been stalled since 1997, the Swedish-French JV of the companies Skanska and Vinci re-started tunnel construction in 2005. The TBM has drilled through very varied geology consisting of gneiss, amphibolites and dolorite. In the 5.5 km of the tubes that remained to be built, the TBM has installed 40,000 concrete segments. To get through the Moelleback zone, a highly decomposed and water-bearing fissure, a 230 m horizontal rock section was frozen. Click here and se/26 for tunnelbuilder archive. Visit http://www.trafikverket.se/Pressrum/Pressmeddelanden1/Nationellt/2013/2013-09/Fardigborrat-i-Hallandsas/. 39/13.