CONSTRUCTION of the 44 km cross-border link from Zalalovo in Hungary to Murska Sobota in Slovenia was due to get under way during March, for completion by the end of 2000. Part of the European Union’s Corridor V linking Italy and Ukraine, it is expected to cost HF22·5bn. Part of the financing will come from the EU’s Phare programme. The line is expected to handle around 2 million tonnes of freight each year.
The first contract, worth HF3bn, was awarded in February to a consortium of Austrian tunnel specialist G Hinteregger S
