The tunnel and a new station with 340m long platforms 8m underground will replace the existing railway viaduct. Putting the line underground will reduce noise and release around 30 ha of land for property developments including offices and 1,000 homes that are being used to part-fund the project.
The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure & the Environment has contributed EUR 330M (USD 413.2M) to the EUR 1bn (USD 1.25bn) cost of the project, with the rest of the funding coming from various tiers of government.
When the tunnel opens in Spring 2015 it will open with two tracks through the tunnel, but there is provision for a further pair to be installed later which would provide an increase in capacity with wider benefits across the national network.
Ad Brothers, project manager for ProRail, said: "The old two-track railway viaduct, so characteristic in Delft, will soon be exchanged for a quiet tunnel with room for four tracks. There will be a better traffic flow, which offers advantages in the Netherlands."
The CrommeLijn consortium of CFE, Mobilis and Dura Vermeer began construction of the tunnel in 2008. Strukton Rail installed the track, signalling and electrification, while BAM Utiliteitsbouw built the station which was designed by Benthem Crouwel architects and is being fitted out by Worksphere.
