SERBIA: Infrastructure manager Infrastruktura Zeleznice Srbije has signed a contract with a consortium led by China Railway 21st Bureau Group, a subsidiary of CRCC, to build a tunnel between Stalać and Đunis in the south of the country.
According to a statement issued by IZS on February 20, the contract is worth €40·8m, covers construction of a 3·3 km tunnel on the main line between Beograd and Niš. The scope of works also includes construction of evacuation tunnels and access roads.
Construction of the project is due to begin in mid-2022, and should last for 2½ years.
The tunnel forms part of a wider renewal of the 17·7 km corridor between Stalać and Đunis, the last remaining single track section between Beograd and Niš and a significant bottleneck where train speeds are limited to 65 km/h. Tenders for the doubling of the track and the construction of four more tunnels on the route are expected to be issued later in 2022. Once these works are completed, passenger trains should be able to run at up to 160 km/h.
