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All work on the track and track equipment has been completed
All work on the track and track equipment has been completed
All work on the track and track equipment on the Divača–Koper railway line has been completed. In addition to the laid rails, all associated components—including track expansion joints—have now been installed, and all required markings have been applied. The contractor has already submitted the documentation for the completed work, and technical inspections will take place in the next phase.
A distinctive feature of the new Divača–Koper railway line is the method used to construct the track. Along most of the route, a rigid-bed track system is used, in which the rails are secured to a concrete structure rather than to traditional sleepers in a ballast bed. This design ensures lower maintenance requirements and a long service life, which is particularly important for a railway line that runs mostly through tunnels. Although rigid-bed tracks have already been constructed in Slovenia, the second track between Divača and Koper represents the largest-scale application of this technology to date. At the same time, the German Rheda system—considered one of the most widely used rigid-bed track systems in the world—was employed for the first time in Slovenia.
Special expansion joints enable trains to safely cross viaducts
Track expansion joints on viaducts also constitute an important part of the completed rail infrastructure. Similar to road bridges, railway bridges are also exposed to temperature changes, which cause their structures to expand and contract. However, the solution is more complex for railways. Despite the expansion and contraction of the viaduct structure, the rails must ensure the safe and uninterrupted passage of trains. For this reason, special rail expansion joints are used, which allow for longitudinal movement between the rails and the viaduct structure.
Two track expansion joints are installed on the Gabrovica Viaduct, one at each end of the viaduct, allowing for longitudinal movement over a total range of 600 millimeters. On the Vinjan Viaduct, where even greater structural movements are anticipated, devices with a combined travel of 1,200 millimeters have been installed. Such devices are particularly important on long railway viaducts, where temperature changes can cause significant longitudinal movements of the structure.
