Prointec (Indra) will design part of the railway line that will connect the baltic states with the european network

Prointec, Indra's civil engineering subsidiary, one of the world's leading technology and consulting companies, will participate in the largest railway infrastructure project in Europe today: Rail Baltica, the railway network for passengers and goods that will integrate the Baltic States, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, in the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-t). 

The joint venture formed by the three countries to manage the project, RB Rail AS, has awarded Prointec, in consortium with the German company OBERMEYER Planen + Beraten GmbH, one of Germany`s largest independent engineering consultancies, the design engineering and supervision during the project on the 93.5 kilometer stretch between the Estonian city of Pärnu and the border with Latvia, for an amount of 10.8 million euros. According to the preliminary design, this section will have 9 railway bridges, 15 highway overpasses, 11 ecoducts (false overpasses that allow animals to cross) and 148 small drainage-framework works, in addition to three passenger stations and one for goods.

The design phase, with a duration of 27 months, will comprise geotechnical investigations and detailed technical design, from conceptual development to construction of the section. During the second phase, which will last 60 months, the correct execution of the project solutions will be confirmed and the modifications made to the original design will be approved.

The main new feature in the project is the use of BIM (Building Information Modeling) methodology applied to civil engineering works, an area in which there are hardly any precedents. Prointec, one of the few companies in Spain with the capability to work with this methodology, will use BIM to create and manage the construction project with a high level of detail, centralizing all the information in a 3D digital model in which even the steel reinforcements in concrete structures will have to be replicated, to give just one example of the high degree of definition. Prointec will thus contribute with its experience and the technical team expertise in the design of High Speed lines around the world and its experience in BIM applied to transportation infrastructure.

The use of BIM technology will enable simulations, optimize design, improve sustainability and achieve significant savings. According to official data, by 2025, large-scale digitalization will generate annual savings of between 13% and 21% in the design and construction phases of infrastructures, and between 10% and 17% in the operations phase.

This project adds to Prointec's extensive experience in the construction of railways throughout the world, with projects in Mexico, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and the United States, with the San Francisco-San José-Merced sections, in California's High Speed network, as well as a large number of projects in Spain.

Direct and sustainable connection with Europe

The new Rail Baltica network, a high-speed line of 870 kilometers of double track and standard gauge, will quickly, sustainably and securely connect the capitals of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and offer a direct connection to the rest of Europe, without requiring adaptations. Currently, the Baltic States have different track gauges than the rest of Europe, so until the new line is available it is necessary to adapt widths or change vehicles, with the costs that this entails in terms of time and money. For this reason, most of the goods traffic and rail services in the Baltic States is with the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), mainly Russia, instead of the rest of the EU through Poland, something which the new rail infrastructure will foreseeably improve on.

The largest infrastructure project in the Baltic region in the last 100 years will thus facilitate the transportation of people and goods to the rest of Europe with maximum safety, comfort and in an environmentally sustainable way, with the subsequent impact on the economic development of the region.

The new rail network, which is supported by EU funding (Connecting Europe Facility-CEF), will be fully electrified and will have the most innovative technologies and materials to cut emissions, reduce noise and vibrations. It is planned to avoid Natura 2000 protected areas, to the greatest possible extent, and it will not have a significant impact on other environmentally sensitive protected areas. In addition, it will have ecoducts, special passages for animals to cross the tracks through ecoducts.

Rail Baltica, which will reach a maximum speed of 249 Km/ h on passenger trains and 120 Km/h on freight trains, will also promote inter-modality and inter-operability through new intermodal freight terminals in each of the Baltic States to enable a fast and efficient transfer of containerized cargo between different modes of transport. In addition, railway stations will connect different urban, regional and long-distance transport services, as well as parking lots for cars, bicycles, etc.

The line is planned to be extended to Finland in the future, through a tunnel under the Baltic Sea to Tallinn and Helsinki, the capitals of Estonia and Finland, respectively.

Leadership throughout the value chain

Thanks to this new Prointec contract in Europe, Indra strengthens its position as one of the leading companies in the rail sector worldwide, with end-to-end solutions and projects in countries such as the United States, Australia, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Mexico, Colombia, China, India and Malaysia, among many others.

Through Prointec, its subsidiary that specializes in engineering, architecture and infrastructure consulting, urban planning and the environment, and a leader in Spain and abroad in areas such as railways, airports, buildings, roads and water, Indra contributes to the digitalization of construction and its construction methods, as well as the development of new technological solutions with a view to optimizing conservation and maintenance costs of infrastructures and improving their safety and protection.

Prointec (https://www.prointec.es/en) seeks to make infrastructures safer, more efficient and sustainable, with the least environmental impact, for which it constantly strives to improve their design, with new materials and technologies, and to adapt to new environmental protection parameters.

The services offered by Prointec are part of Mova Consulting, one of the lines of solutions of Indra Mova Solutions, which is Indra's Transportation Division that covers the entire life-cycle of its clients' projects and combines new digital capabilities, from integration, specialization and innovation demanded by the market, with the reliability, knowledge of the business, Indra's proprietary transportation technology and the unique experience of its professional teams.

Indra has a unique wealth of experience in Transportation, with more than 2,500 projects developed in more than 50 countries.

About Indra

Indra (www.indracompany.com) is one of the leading global technology and consulting companies and the technological partner for core business operations of its customers world-wide. It is a world-leader in providing proprietary solutions in specific segments in Transport and Defence markets, and a leading firm in Digital Transformation Consultancy and Information Technologies in Spain and Latin America through its affiliate Minsait. Its business model is based on a comprehensive range of proprietary products, with a high-value focus and with a high innovation component. In the 2019 financial year, Indra achieved revenue of €3,204 billion, with more than 49,000 employees, a local presence in 46 countries and business operations in over 140 countries.