Ukraine railways to complete Beskidy Tunnel in Carpathians by summer

Ukrainian state-run railways operator JSC Ukrzaliznytsia is planning to complete the construction of the Beskidy Tunnel in the Carpathians, which will connect Ukraine and the European Union, by May 25, 2018.

"We set the task to complete the construction of the Beskidy Tunnel by May 25, 2018," Acting Chairman of JSC Ukrzaliznytsia Board Yevhen Kravtsov said at a press conference.

UNIAN memo. The Beskidy Tunnel is part of Lviv Railways. It is located next to the Volovets Pass.

Read alsoInfrastructure minister says Ukrzaliznytsia must focus solely on transportation servicesIt stretches for 1,750 meters between train stations Beskid and Skotarske. The tunnel was built back in 1886 and with time its passing capacity became inadequate, so a decision was adopted to build a new one.

The second tunnel is being built parallel to the existing tunnel, which can accommodate two tracks and allow speeds of up to 70 km/h. The new tunnel will have a length of 1,822 meters and be covered by up to 180 meters of rock. The internal dimensions of 8.5 meters height and 10.5 meters width allow double tracks, and thus more than the mere replacement of the existing old tube. The two tubes are to be connected by three lugs, the old tunnel then being used as a rescue route.

The tunnel is being built with the New Austrian Tunneling Method. When completed, it will be part of the fifth pan-European transit corridor (Italy-Slovenia-Hungary-Slovakia-Ukraine-Russia).