The leading Lithuanian road, bridge and railway engineering company Kelprojektas has signed a contract with the German enterprise DB International GmbH entitling Kelprojektas to prepare the technical design of pedestrian viaducts and underground tunnels for the project of upgrading the track Vilnius–Kaunas to 160 km/h speed. The contract is worth 0.5 million LTL and is due to be finished on March 5 this year.
“Vilnius–Kaunas track is undergoing modernisation with a view of implementing modern standards. The speed of trains in this stretch will be significantly boosted so one of the major goals is to ensure the safety of pedestrians”, said Algimantas Medžiaušis, CEO of UAB Kelprojektas.
According to him, the current pedestrian crossings no longer comply with the applicable legislation, because they cross the tracks themselves and are not safe. Therefore, the upgrading of the railway line to 160 km/h needs to include grade-separated crossings that would ensure the safety of both pedestrians and train passengers.
According to the contract, Kelprojektas is to prepare the designs of nine structures enabling pedestrians to cross the tracks. The structures will include both underground crossings and pedestrian viaducts that will be constructed at the stations in Vokė, Sausiai, Rykantai, Lazdėnai, Baltamiškis, Vievis, Kaugonys and Žąsliai. One existing pedestrian viaduct at Kaišiadorys station will be reconstructed.
Presently, the crossings at most of the stations on the track Vilnius–Kaunas are at-grade crossings, i. e. pedestrians need to walk straight across the tracks. The construction and reconstruction of pedestrian structures is required by the new safety directives.