SLOVENIA: The 1 530 m Pekel tunnel which is being built as part of the upgrading of the route from Maribor to the Austrian border was broken through on August 18.
The route modernisation comprises three work packages with a total cost of €286·6m, for which the EU has provided €101m of co-financing. The first two covering works at Maribor station and on the Pesnica – Šentilj – border section of the line have already been completed.
The third tranche covers the Maribor – Počehova – Pesnica section, including a new 3·7 km alignment between Počehova and Pesnica with the tunnel and an 896 m viaduct. The line will be single track, but the structures are being built with provision for future doubling subject to an agreement being reached with Austria.
Construction is being undertaken by a joint venture of Pomgrad, Kolektor Koling, SŽ-ŽGP, GH Holding and Gorenjska Gradbena Družba under a €101m contract.
One the new alignment is completed, the current trackbed which is only suitable for 70 km/h operation will be converted into a cycle path.
