This week the fourth and last Tunnel Boring Machine at the Follo Line Project started its journey towards the city of Ski. This means that all four TBMs at the project now are operational.

During the next two years the TBM, named “Magda Flåtestad”, and three other machines – “Queen Eufemia”, “Queen Ellisiv” and “Anna fra Kloppa”, will excavate and line 18,5 km of railway tunnel.

- Another milestone has been reached for our project. It is a spectacular achievement to assemble four machines in six months, in large assembly halls inside the mountain. A special acknowledgment to the contractor Acciona Ghella and their subcontractors involved in the project, says project manager TBM, Anne Kathrine Kalager.

- The four TBMs are now operational, just as we planned. It is a large task to construct, transport and assemble these machines, but we are ahead of schedule at the project, and I am very pleased that all four machines now are constructing the new tunnel, says Fernando Vara, Project Director of Acciona Ghella Joint Venture.

The four machines will bore approximately 9 km of tunnel over a two year period. So far approximately 1850 m of tunnel have been bored and lined. Each of the machines are 150 m long, weighs about 2400 tonnes, and the cutterhead is 9,96 in diameter. 

The Follo Line project is the largest infrastructure project in Norway. AGJV is constructing the main part of the tunnel at the project on behalf of The Norwegian National Railway Administration (Jernbaneverket). With a length of 20 km, the tunnel will be Scandinavia’s longest railway tunnel when it is finalized at the end 2021.

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