Beskidy tunnel

The Beskidy Tunnel is a railway tunnel of the Lviv Railways under the Volovets Pass in the Carpathian Mountains that is part of. It is the second longest tunnel in Ukraine. It is a part of the fifth pan-European transit corridor (Italy-Slovenia-Hungary-Slovakia-Ukraine).

South portal of the old tunnel

The first Beskidy Tunnel, built in 1886, was 1,750 m (5,740 ft) and was located on an alignment between train stations at Beskid and Skotarske. Over time, the capacity of this tunnel had become inadequate in the face of increasing demand, thus, a decision was made to pursue the construction of a new bore running parallel to the existing tunnel. In 1998 discussions started about its construction but building started in 2014.[1] The new tunnel has a length of 1,822 meters and is covered by up to 180 meters of rock. The internal dimensions of 8.5 meters height and 10.5 meters width allows for a double track railway to be accommodated. The maximum speed was also increased from 40 km/h to 70 km/h. As a result, the tunnel can now handle daily traffic of 50 to 100 trains. The two tubes are connected by three lugs, while the old tunnel is being used as a rescue route for the new one. During late May 2018, the tunnel was inaugurated in a ceremony.[2]

New tunnel

The new Beskidy tunnel passes through the mountains between the towns of Beskid and Skotarske and connects the Ukrainian rail network with Europe's Corridor V, thus linking the city of Lviv in western Ukraine to cities such as Venice and Trieste in northern Italy, as well as various other locations along the route in Slovenia and Hungary. The new tunnel is expected to handle nearly 60 per cent of all rail traffic travelling between Ukraine and the European Union.[3]

Postage stamp of Ukraine, 2018

The project was financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB); the EBRD invested $40 million, while the EIB contributed €55 million ($64.5 million) to pay for the construction effort. The EBRD director for Ukraine Sevki Acuner stated of the project: “The new tunnel is a positive example of the contemporary relationship between Ukraine and Europe. It will unblock the worst bottleneck in the east-west transport corridor. More importantly, it symbolises Ukraine’s aspiration to be integrated into the EU economy and to become part of the 21st-century European family”.[3]

In addition to providing financing, technical expertise was also bought in from the EU, especially from Austria, to support the development of the tunnel. The new tunnel was built with the New Austrian Tunneling Method. Breakthrough was achieved in January 2016,[4] The construction process reportedly required 130,000 tonnes of concrete and 8,000 tonnes of steel.[3]

The Beskydy rail tunnel was inaugurated by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko during late May 2018.[3] It will reduce journey times between Lviv and Ukrainian border town Chop, in a bid to facilitate exports of domestic products to neighbouring countries.[3]

References
  1. "Week's balance: New tunnel to Europe, anti-corruption court's final stretch, and Russia sanctions". UNIAN. 27 May 2018.
  2. "Beskyd tunnel completed". Railway Gazette. 25 May 2018.
  3. "Ukraine launches Beskyd railway tunnel." railway-technology.com, 25 May 2018.
  4. Beskidy tunnel through Carpathians will be opened this year – Omelyan (Бескидський тунель крізь Карпати відкриють в цьому році – Омелян). Zakarpattia online, 20 April 2017.

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