Slovenia receives EC decision for co-financing of railway project Pragersko-Hodoš
Ljubljana, 16 May 2013 – The Ministry of Economic Development and Technology received the European Commission decision for the co-financing of the project for the reconstruction, electrification and upgrade of the railway track Pragersko-Hodoš as well as for the modernisation of level crossings and construction of railway station crossings. The project is a so-called major project, the overall value of which is estimated at 329.8 million Euros of which the Cohesion Fund contribution amounts to 166.2 million Euros. Construction in the framework of the project, which is foreseen to close by the end of 2015, is already underway.
The project, which will be implemented in two phases, includes the reconstruction, electrification and upgrade of the railway track Pragersko-Hodoš for speeds of up to 160 km/h as well as the modernisation of level crossings and construction of railway station crossings. The first phase, which is the subject of the mentioned European Commission decision, includes the electrification, reconstruction and upgrade of the railway track, including the measures for the prevention of the excessive impacts on the environment.
The project is part of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T), more specifically the railway axis Lyon – Trieste – Divača / Koper – Divača – Ljubljana – Budapest – border with Ukraine, which is the priority project TEN-T No 6 and is also located within the 5th European transport corridor – one of the ten priority railway corridors between the European Union and other European states.
The section of the railway track Pragersko-Hodoš is the only section of the 5th European transport corridor which has not yet been electrified. With the development of the Port of Koper as an important import-export and transit port, the mentioned railway track will take over the more extensive international cargo transported towards Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine and the other way towards the Port of Koper and Italy.
In the past Slovenia invested into the construction and modernisation of the railway track – with the help of the EU funds the railway track between Pragersko and Ormož was modernised, including its signalisation, safety and telecommunication devices.
The realisation of the project, which represents an upgrade of the mentioned works, carried-out in the previous years, will improve the transportation services as well as increase the speed of trains and the railway track capacity for the future transportation needs of the 5th European transport corridor.
The first phase of the project foresees the electrification of 109 kilometres of the existing railway track Pragersko-Hodoš-state border, including the tracks and the construction of the contact lines, five new electro-charging stations, setting-up of 13.5 metres of the noise barrier, implementation of the measures of passive noise barrier on 166 buildings, reconstruction of 5 stations and 9 stops as well as 6 steel bridges (4 bridges will be renovated while 2 bridges will be replaced altogether).
Within the second phase of the project – modernisation of the level crossings Pragersko-Hodoš – 19 non-level crossings will be constructed, 27 level crossings will be protected with an automatic device for protection and with gates while 32 level crossings will be eliminated. This phase will also be realised with the help of the EU funds.
This project is the 11th Slovenian major project approved in the framework of the Operational Programme for the Development of the Environmental and Transport Infrastructure. The European Commission already issued a decision for seven projects in the field of transport (four highway sections, the construction of a passenger terminal at Ljubljana Airport, modernization of the railway track Divača-Koper and for the project of the introduction of the digital radio system within the Slovenian railway network) and three projects in the field of the environment (upgrade of the regional centre for waste management in the region Osrednjeslovenska regija, upgrade of the system for monitoring and analyzing the aquatic environment in Slovenia and overall drinking water supply in the valley Šaleška dolina).
In the programming period 2007-2013 the so-called major projects are approved by the European Commission. Major projects are projects which are co-financed by the Cohesion Fund or the European Regional Development Fund and the overall value of which exceeds 50 million Euros. The projects worth less are approved by the Member State.
The funds 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, 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.
