To build a constructive relationship with the contractor and work together as efficiently as possible while the railway siding is being built, the customer should have a clear picture of the work involved, its sequence, the resources it requires and its approximate duration.
Below is an approximate sequence of steps for building a railway siding once the land plot has been selected and the rights to it registered (see our site selection recommendations).
I. Preparatory work
Approximate duration — 2 months; approximate cost — 30% of the total design cost*
- Preliminary engineering and geodetic surveys.
- Preliminary identification of the connection point to the station's (or siding owner's) tracks.
- Obtaining technical conditions (TCs) from the railway division's units: the connecting station (DS), the track maintenance unit (PCh), the signalling and communications unit (ShCh), the power supply unit (ECh) and others.
- Agreeing the TCs with the division's departments (traffic, track, signalling and communications, power supply) and its chief engineer, and with the railway administration's services (traffic, track, signalling and communications, power supply), followed by approval by the railway's chief engineer (NG).
- Final engineering, geodetic and geological surveys.
- Obtaining technical conditions from the owners of utilities that cross the siding or run close to it: gas pipelines, power lines, communication lines, water mains, cable networks, roads, etc.
II. Design work
Approximate duration — 4 months; approximate cost — 70% of the total design cost*
- Developing the railway track design based on the TCs obtained.
- Agreeing the design
- a) with KTZ: the division's units, the railway division and the railway administration's services;
- b) with the owners of utilities and networks.
- Developing the detailed design.
- Agreeing the detailed design
- a) with KTZ: the division's units, the railway division and the railway administration's services;
- b) with the owners of utilities and networks.
- Approval by KTZ.
- Applying to KTZ for a commission to determine the connection point of the non-public track (connection permit).
- Obtaining a permit (order) from KTZ to connect the siding to the public railway.
- Approvals from other municipal bodies.
- State expert review of the design.
- Obtaining the construction permit (obtained by the customer for the entire facility).
III. Construction work
Approximate duration, including all ancillary works — 2 to 4 months*
- Relocating utilities out of the construction zone or protecting them within the site; building temporary roads.
- Earthworks: building the embankment or excavating the cutting, moving soil along the work front, levelling, compaction and, where needed, draining the future subgrade (diverting groundwater, etc.).
- Building engineering structures: culverts, drainage channels, etc. (before or after the earthworks).
- Laying the track superstructure: forming the ballast bed, laying the sleepers, laying and joining the rails, installing turnouts and diamond crossings.
- Ballasting and track alignment.
- Building level crossings.
- Interlocking of track and turnouts, automatic level crossing equipment, snow-clearing systems for turnouts.
- Building or reconstructing the overhead contact line.
- Building structures, platforms and elevated tracks.
IV. Commissioning
Approximate duration of items 28 and 29 — 1 month including approvals; approximate cost — KZT 100,000 to 500,000 depending on track length.
- Forming a commission made up of representatives of the customer, the contractor, the connecting infrastructure owner and KTZ (the customer convenes the commission, the director of the customer enterprise chairs it, and it is appointed 1–2 weeks in advance).
- The acceptance commission draws up and signs the commissioning certificate.
- Preparing the track's technical passport and local operating instructions.
- Agreeing the technical passport and local instructions with the railway division's units.
* Timelines and costs are given for a typical facility with 1 km of track.
** The list of approving bodies and the commissioning procedure change over time and may differ from the above at the time of approval.
For more details on agreeing technical conditions and building railway sidings, contact our specialists by phone at +7 (7172) 25 42 32 or in person. We can also advise you on choosing a land plot for construction.