EU grants Slovakia nearly a billion euros to modernise its railway system
The European Union will fund Slovakian railways projects up to a billion euros by 2020. The funds are designed mostly to finance 21 projects regarding train modernisation and the revamping of 250 kilometres of rails, the building of terminals, parking lots and hubs for public transport.
The modernisation of 30 kilometres of rails between Devinska Nova Ves, a neighborhood in Bratislava, and the Czech borders, is designed to allow for trains travelling up to 200 kilometres per hour. It is one of the projects Slovakia will launch via ZSR, its state-run railway company.
ZSR also plans to use the EU funds to modernise a section of the railway system in the region of Trencin (in Northwest Slovakia) to allow trains to travel at a speed of 160 kilometres per hour. This section will be built by a consortium of firms led by Doprastav for a total cost of 365 million euros. This track will complete the modernisation of the whole section between Bratislava and Zilina, in NorthWest Slovakia. Moreover, the state-run company ZSR also plans to include the modernisation of the track running along the Tatras mountains, in North East Slovakia, a major project to be undertaken to modernise the Zilina-Kosice track. The Tatras mountains track has an expected cost of about 100 million euros.
The EU funds could also be used to finance a host of smaller projects, including the construction of integrated transport terminals, seven of which will be located in Bratislava and one in Trebisov, in the region of Kosice.
