The Government has adopted the third amendment to the investment programme (NIP3) for the Second Track project, which does not change the project’s investment value. The amendment was necessary, among other reasons, because the project received more non-repayable European funds this year than planned in the previous investment plan, and due to updated traffic forecasts, which are now aligned with the latest projections and strategic documents of the Port of Koper. The total investment value of the project remains €1,109 million in current prices.
The company 2TDK, as the project investor, has faced numerous challenges during construction, which began in 2019 with the building of access roads: the COVID-19 pandemic, administrative obstacles in obtaining work permits for workers from Turkey, financial difficulties of the Turkish contractor, high and unexpected inflation, increases in the prices of construction materials and energy, and disruptions in supply chains due to changing geopolitical conditions in the world.
In recent years of construction, certain geological phenomena have also been discovered that could not have been foreseen during the design phase. The two most significant were the discovery of large karst caves requiring underground bridging in the tunnels, and the identification of slope instability in the Glinščica Valley, which is currently being remediated. Construction works in the karst section of the Second Track route continue to bring unexpected challenges even today, as it was only a few weeks ago determined that on approximately two kilometres of the route between Divača and the first Lokev tunnel (T1), seven ground reinforcement interventions and a bridging of a sinkhole will be required. Geophysical investigations showed that the karst soil is poorly bearing, so the bridges will range from 8 to 15 metres in length, while the sinkhole crossing will be 33 metres long.
The project’s goals are clear: in March 2026, the railway will be operable for rail vehicles, all works will be completed by September 2026, and the start of operations is planned for the end of 2026.
The Second Track between Divača and Koper thus remains a project that, despite numerous challenges and several years of construction, will not become more expensive. In fact, compared to the original 2019 investment programme, the total investment value is even €41 million lower.