KYIV. Nov 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Public joint-stock company Ukrzaliznytsia has finished drilling of the new two-track Beskydsky tunnel on October 28 in line with the schedule.
The company said in a Monday press release that the tunnel was drilled in two stages: the upper section and the lower section. A total of 1,764 meters were drilled.
The workers are improving the roadbed at the approaches to the tunnel, installing the track at the approaches and in the tunnel, assembly lighting, communications and control lines. It is planned that the works will be finished by late May 2017.
The workers continue drilling rooms and niches in the tunnel. It is required that niches will be staged each 30 meters, with niches and open areas made each 150 meters.
The new two-track tunnel will replace the existing single track one, which was built in 1886. It has a speed limit of 15-40km/h and remains the only “narrow” place in the Chop-Lviv direction. The new tunnel is designed for a speed of 60-70 km/h and increase the capacity of this section of the track from 47 to 100 pairs of trains per day.
The first train will pass the new tunnel in Q2 2018.
