The project to turn the currently-under-construction railway between Divača and Koper, in Slovenia, into a double track is entering a new stage. 2TDK, the company owning the future infrastructure, accepted a bid “for the preparation of project and environmental documentation” for the second parallel line.
The offer, presented by a consortium including Elea iC, IRGO Consulting and SŽ Projektivno podjetje Ljubljana (part of Slovenian Railways group). Their offer amounted to a little over 29 million euros. 2TDK considered that the proposal “was admissible and complete, met all conditions for participation, and met the needs and requirements of the contracting authority specified in the tender documentation”.
The preparation of the project for an additional track between Divača and Slovenia’s main port in Koper will be divided into two phases. In the first one, the main goal is to obtain a building permit by running geological-geomechanical and hydrogeological surveys. The second phase will include activities during the execution works, such as design supervision and possible amendments to the Building Information Model.
Renewing the Divača–Koper axis
Initially, the Slovenian government opted to build only a new single-track between Divača and Koper to replace the existing 60-year-old infrastructure. For this section, various milestones were reached last month, as RailFreight.com reported. This new line will be ready in less than a year, as the opening is planned for 31 March 2026.
However, in October 2024, the Slovenian Parliament approved the construction of a second parallel line to improve rail connectivity even further. Construction of this line should start next year, with completion expected by 2030. This initiative should be a little easier, as many of the service tunnels excavated for construction work will become part of the new line.
Once both lines are operational, there will be capacity to move over 36 million tonnes by rail every year to and from the port of Koper. Rail at Slovenia’s largest port is already very present, with a 52% modal share in 2023, for a total of over 20,000 trains. Having a brand new infrastructure should boost rail freight operations even further and increase Koper’s competitiveness with the other Adriatic ports Trieste (Italy) and Rijeka (Croatia).
