New Löwenstrasse Station in Zurich: rough Construction completed
The approx. 4.8 km long, twin-track Weinberg Tunnel with parallel escape and evacuation tunnel and the underground through station Löwenstrasse [1] has 4 tracks and two 420 m long central platforms representing the core of the SBB Cross-City Link (DML), which links Zurich Main Station with Oerlikon Station [2]. This second through station in Zurich enables westbound trains (Berne, Lausanne, Geneva) and those heading east (Zurich Airport, St. Gallen, Munich) to cut travelling times thus benefitting rising passenger figures. After concluding the rough construction work, the process of installing the rail technology equipment began in early 2013 [3]. The tracks are to be installed on the ramp leading to the underground station and in the new Löwenstrasse Station as well as the Weinberg Tunnel leading to Oerlikon by mid-2013. A ballast-less solid track – type “Low Vibration Track” to suppress vibrations in buildings above the DML – will be incorporated. At especially sensitive spots such as beneath the University Clinic and the radio station, the track will be combined with mass-spring systems, which compress when trains are passing thus preventing vibrations from being transferred. By the end of 2013, the overhead lines as well as the electro and telecommunications technology and various safety-technical facilities such as the extinguishing water line, emergency lighting and handrails at both sides will have been built into the Löwenstrasse Station and the Weinberg Tunnel. The first DML section together with the through station and tunnel link to Oerlikon is due to be opened in mid-2014. The section across the Kohlendreieck and Letzigraben bridges towards Altstetten is to be commissioned in 2015.⇥G.B.
