The Lindholmen Connection – Gothenburg’s new tram tunnel

In the next decade, Gothenburg will add another hundred thousand people to its 600,000 inhabitants, so the transportation system needs to be developed to keep city life running smoothly.

In 2039, the Lindholmen Connection is planned to open: a tram tunnel from Lindholmen to Linnéplatsen, beneath the Göta River, via an underground stop at Stigberget and under the city’s beloved park, Slottsskogen. The new tram route offers three key benefits:

• Reduced travel time. Travel time from Lindholmen to Linnéplatsen will go from 25 to just about six minutes.
• Increased capacity. Districts will be better connected, and the capacity for sustainable travel in Gothenburg will increase.
• Increased robustness. The public transportation system will become more reliable with a new river crossing for trams (currently, the Hising Bridge is the only one).

An intricate plan

The project, led by the Land Development Department at the City of Gothenburg, is in its early stages, but COWI has been involved in several aspects so far. Jonas Brunner, Urban and Regional Planning Specialist at COWI, is responsible for compiling the railway plan for the new tram line.

“A railway plan enables structured and systematic planning of a railway construction project. It’s a tool to ensure the project is carried out correctly with respect to both safety and the environment,” he says.

The railway plan determines what land will be used to build the tunnel and what the track infrastructure will look like. An environmental impact assessment is also included. The project involves major technical challenges, and the plan must describe how to address them. One example is the poor rock quality in certain areas around Linnéplatsen where expertise from COWI’s hydrogeologists is key.

“There are also different solutions for constructing the tunnel beneath the river. Dredging the riverbed may release contaminants on the river bottom, so we must demonstrate that construction can be carried out in a way that ensures water quality does not risk exceeding current environmental quality standards.”

Crossing the river together

The railway plan has to align with the City of Gothenburg’s detailed development plans for the land along the Lindholmen Connection. Therefore, a new local development plan is being prepared for the entire route, with COWI playing an important role and also collaborating with  Arkitema on the design of the future stop at Linnéplatsen.

In the project, COWI also works closely with AFRY, which coordinates the technical system design. When the railway plan is submitted to the Swedish Transport Administration for approval at the end of 2027, it will reflect insights from a wide range of experts.

“We learn from one another and do this together – within COWI, but also with AFRY and with the client. Together, we ensure that the project is carried out in a sustainable and efficient way and contributes to positive societal development,” says Jonas Brunner.

In our next story about the project, we will focus on the challenges hydrogeologists face in planning the Lindholmen Connection.