SLOVAK Republic Railways is to invest KS7·8bn this year on the modernisation of its international corridors, of which KS3bn will come from its own resources. In mid-April ZSR began work on the modernisation of the 39 km between Bratislava Raca and Trnava, which forms part of European Corridor V linking Trieste, Ljubljana, Budapest, Bratislava, Kosice and Lviv (RG 7.99 p459).
By 2004, the line is to be upgraded from 120 to 160 km/h, with rehabilitation of trackwork, 25 kV catenary and signalling, at a total cost of KS7·1bn. The 6 km from Trnava to Cífer is to be finished by the end of this year, and work will then start on the 5 km from Raca to Svaty Jur. ZSR hopes to modernise the rest of the line to Zilina by 2010, beginning with the 52 km from Trnava to Nové Mesto and the 58 km onwards to V