Six engineering firms join forces on Finnish ERTMS rollout
Finland’s transport agency Väylävirasto has signed a EUR 70 million joint contract with six engineering firms to plan and commission ERTMS on 970 kilometres of track in southern Finland, sharing engineering risk across nine years rather than concentrating it with a single lead consultant.
The agreement covers the Helsinki metropolitan area, Southwest Finland and the main line extending to Seinäjoki. The six firms are Ramboll CM, Welado, Rejlers, Sweco, WSP and Ramboll Finland.
The partners share responsibility for design, construction consultancy and commissioning inspection until 2034. Equipment suppliers and construction contracts will be tendered separately.
Shared delivery to 2034
The alliance model is typically used for projects where scope and requirements cannot be fully locked at contract signing. Väylävirasto says it suits the Digirail rollout because the work spans nearly a decade and depends on equipment and operational decisions yet to be made.
The contract sets a single delivery target: ERTMS smoothly commissioned on all three sections by summer 2034.
Three of eleven sections
The deal covers three of the eleven track sections in the wider Digirail programme, which will convert Finland’s roughly 6,000 km network to ERTMS in phases between 2025 and 2040. Total programme cost is around EUR 1.5 billion, including EUR 250 million in on-board investments by rolling stock owners.
The European Commission has contributed EUR 85 million through the Recovery and Resilience Facility, funding the development and verification phase that runs to 2026.
Vendors still to be chosen
Equipment suppliers and construction works for the three sections will be tendered separately from the engineering alliance. The signalling vendor competition remains open as design work begins.