The Railways of the Slovak Republic Continue Their Modernization with the Nové Mesto nad Váhom – Zlatovce Section

11. 05. 2010

On 11 May 2010 the “Nové Mesto nad Váhom – Púchov Railway Line, at 100. 500-159. 100 Railway Kilometer, for the Critical Running Speed of 160 km/h, Phase I and Phase II (the Nové Mesto nad Váhom – Zlatovce Section)” construction project was ceremonially launched in the premises of the Nové Mesto nad Váhom railway station, in the presence of the Minister of Transport, Post and Telecommunications of the Slovak Republic, Ľubomír Vážný, the CEO of the Railways of the Slovak Republic, Štefan Hlinka, and representatives of suppliers.

The modernization of selected tracks of the railway network administered by the Railways of the Slovak Republic includes the reconstruction of the existing railway infrastructure with the objective of increasing their engineering equipment, safety, attractiveness and serviceability by integrating modern elements into it and hence improving its quality and technical parameters and indicators in general. The modernization of the railway line section between Nové Mesto nad Váhom and Púchov will result in an integrated railway section continuing the previous sections from Bratislava (it is connected to the construction project of Piešťany – Nové Mesto nad Váhom Corridor V) which will have required engineering parameters for speeds of up to 160 km/h according to international agreements (e.g.  AGC, AGTC, etc.).

The Nové Mesto nad Váhom – Púchov double-track railway line makes up a part of the European Corridor V. The Nové Mesto nad Váhom – Zlatovce section is 17.457 km long; the construction project will be implemented in two phases:

Phase I – the Nové Mesto nad Váhom – Trenčianské Bohuslavice line section between two stations

Phase II – the Trenčianské Bohuslavice – Zlatovce section (it finishes behind the Kostolná – Záriečie stopping point)

• Trenčianské Bohuslavice railway station
• the Trenčianské Bohuslavice – Melčice line section between two stations
• the Melčice railway station
• the Melčice – Zlatovce line section between two stations

The general designer of the construction project is REMING CONSULT, a. s.

The contractor for the construction project, selected by a tender process, is the "Nové Mesto nad Váhom – Zlatovce 2009" consortium comprising of OHL ŽS, a.s., Skanska BS, a.s., VÁHOSTAV – SK, a.s., Doprastav, a.s. and ELTRA, s.r.o.

The construction supervision is executed by the "Inženýrské sdružení Zlatovce” consortium selected by a tender process, with Infra SK, s. r. o. as its leading member and Bung Slovensko, s.r.o. as a member.

The work is financed from the European Commission’s Cohesion Fund and co-financed from the resources of the Slovak Republic at the amount of nearly EUR 264 million.

Work schedule:
The modernization commenced on 29 September 2009 when the construction site was handed over and taken over in Nové Mesto nad Váhom. According to the contractor’s work schedule, the modernization is to take 44 months, i.e. it is to be completed by the end of May 2013.

Specification of the construction project:
The most significant structure of Phase I of the construction project is the railway tunnel leading through Turecký Hill, which was designed for achieving the required speed of 160 km/h.  The tunnel is 1775 m long. The work on the tunnel construction affects the Turecký Hill natural reserve where the railway line body and the tunnel portal frames will reach this area and, at the same time, an access communication and a new road fly-over will be located in its protection zone. The engineering design of the tunnel respects the existing character of the environment and its interference with the territory is limited only to the area of the tunnel portals.

During the preparatory phase of the construction project, all accepted provisos claimed by municipalities and other affected entities have been integrated and taken into account in the project documentation. The following are some examples of areas that the provisos are related to:      

• restoration and reclamation of the lands that have been appropriated for an interim period of time
• waste management
• traffic measures
• adaptations of watercourse beds
• securing anti-noise measures
• principles of hygienic conditions, nature and landscape protection and others.

Originally, three versions of routing around Turecký Hill were considered in the simplified engineering study that was drawn up, containing a comparison of economic efficiency:

1st tunnel version
2nd cut version – with extensive interference in the protected landscape area (PLA)
3rd relocation of the railway line together with I/61 and the Trenčianske Bohuslavice railway station
The engineering study results unequivocally showed the benefit of the tunnel version. Its advantages are as follows:

• reduced costs of the railway line maintenance in the tunnel (compact transport track);
• minimum impact on the PLA (only in the tunnel frame areas) – preferred by environmentalists;
• shortened route, less travelling time and hence also operating costs;

independent construction because the tunnel is situated outside the existing railway line which will enable the continuation of the railway line operation during the tunnel construction.

The tunnel construction started as early as January 2010 and the tunnel boring should be completed in June 2012 according to the work schedule; full completion, including engineering communications and service pipelines, is planned for May 2013.

The most significant element of Phase II of the construction project is the project of level crossings that must be, in accordance with modernization principles, either replaced with grade-separated crossings or removed without any replacement depending on their importance. Grade-separated crossings are designed as new road fly-overs in the cadastral areas of Čtvrtek, Ivanovce and Kostolná-Záriečie and as subways in Trenčianské Bohuslavice, Ivanovce and Adamovské Kochanovice.

There are two railway stations – Trenčianské Bohuslavice and Melčice – situated in the railway line section. Because of the need to optimize the capacity of the railway line use for traffic, the Melčice railway station will be closed and changed into a stopping point. A new overtaking area will be built in the Melčice – Zlatovce section.