A little under 100 million Euros of EU funds for digital radio system for Slovenian railway network
Ljubljana, 18 March 2013 – The Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, acting as the Managing Authority for the EU structural funds and the Cohesion Fund, received the European Commission decision on the co-financing of the project for the introduction of a digital radio system (GSM-R) within the Slovenian railway network. The overall value of the project – the main project of modernizing the Slovenian railway network – is 149.5 million Euros, of which the Cohesion Fund contribution amounts to 99.9 million Euros.
The objective of the project is the construction and setting-up of a digital radio system (GSM-R) throughout the public railway network infrastructure in Slovenia. The GSM-R system represents a starting point for the introduction of a modern railway transport management system which enables substantial improvements in the permeability of railway lines as well as traffic safety itself.
The railway radio network GSM-R in the overall length of 960 kilometres will be constructed in the framework of the project implementation. This will ensure radio network coverage throughout the Slovenian railway network.
Besides the construction of the radio network, the necessary cable routes and cable connections and all the needed construction works will be carried-out in the framework of the investment. Over 250 base stations (GSM-R towers) will be set-up, mobile radio devices for the staff as well as the maintenance vehicles for the public railway infrastructure managers will be purchased. Also, a central control system and management centre for the entire newly-constructed network will be set-up. The radio system will be introduced first along the main railway tracks and then along the regional railway tracks. Training of the staff responsible for the management and maintenance of the new network will also be carried-out in the framework of the project.
The uncoordinated railway development between European countries in the past was one of the reasons for the use of different radio communication systems, which caused high construction and maintenance costs, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the incompatibility caused technical and time constraints within the railway transportation. With the strengthening of the economic integration within the EU a uniform solution in the field of railway radio communication was developed – the use of the GSM-R system was adopted. Today, the system is used for railway transportation throughout Europe; it was also prescribed and defined mandatory in the framework of the interoperability specifications, namely for the conventional railway lines as well as high-speed lines.
The project is part of the Operational Programme for the Development of the Environmental and Transport Infrastructure for the period 2007–2013, which is worth the 1.57 billion Euros. The funds of the operational programme are primarily meant for the modernisation or construction of new infrastructure in the field of environment and transport. The smaller share of these funds is also meant for the projects in the field of sustainable energy use. The project represents the tenth approved major project in Slovenia (the European Commission approves the so-called major projects the overall value of which exceeds 50 million Euros).
Before this project, the European Commission issued the decision for six projects in the field of transport (construction of a passenger terminal at the Ljubljana Airport, four highway sections and the modernization of the railway line Divača-Koper) and for three projects in the field of environment (upgrade of the regional centre for waste management in the region of Osrednjeslovenska regija, upgrade of the system for monitoring and analyzing the aquatic environment in Slovenia and the overall drinking water supply in the valley Šaleška dolina).
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Spatial Planning, which can provide additional information about the project, is responsible for its implementation.
