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Right tube of the 2.2 km-long Cortanovci tunnel, part of the Stara Pazova-Novi Sad section of the railway line connecting Belgrade (Serbia) to Budapest (Hungary).

Press information

On April 3, 2020, RZD International LLC finished tunneling of the right bore of Cortanovci tunnel. Thus, the first phase of construction of a 1086 meters long bore was completed.

On the occasion of this event, an appeal was received from the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Serbia, Alexander Botsan-Harchenko.  He drew special attention to the long-term relations of cooperation and mutual assistance between Russia and Serbia, including the railway sector.

The Cortanovci tunnel consists of two parallel single-track tunnels with a total length of over 2.2 km and is located on the Stara-Pazova-Novi Sad railway line, that is currently under construction.
The tunnel route is laid in difficult mining and geological conditions, in flooded soils. The tunneling was carried out simultaneously from the northern and southern portals by a special mountain method for weak soils. During the tunneling, more than 190 thousand cubic meters of rock were brought to the surface.

A completion of tunneling in the left bore is scheduled for June 2020. Currently, the readiness of this large-scale construction is 86%. Commissioning of the facility is planned for November 2021.

Sergey Stolyarov, acting Director General of RZD International: “The completion of the tunneling of the right Chortanovtci tunnel today clearly demonstrates the professionalism and solidarity of the Russian and Serbian specialists working on the project.

The Chortanovci Tunnel is one of the largest infrastructure projects of the railway industry of Serbia, the work on which has not been suspended even for a minute for 2,5 years.

I want to emphasize that despite the difficult epidemiological situation, works at all facilities in Serbia are carried out by the company in accordance with the approved schedule. At the same time, in close cooperation with the customer and the Serbian authorities, all necessary measures are taken in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection and protect personnel. ”

Also, in Cortanovci RZD International is building another large-scale facility - a two-track almost 3 kilometers long railway viaduct in the floodplain of the Danube river. To date, installation works on all 103 piers and 90 of 118 spans have been completed. The total viaduct readiness has reached 91%.

For reference:

RZD International LLC has been carrying out modernization and construction of the Serbian railways since 2014. The Company has already completed reconstruction of the Belgrade – Pancevo and Resnik – Valjevo sections within the framework of the Pan-European Transport Corridor X development project and carried out construction of railway tracks on the bridge across Danube river in Novi Sad. Also, 27 Russian-made Diesel Multiple Unit trains (DMU) were delivered to Serbia.

Now RZD International is constructing unique to Serbia facilities – the viaduct in the floodplain of the Danube river and the Chortanovci tunnel, – and reconstructing the Stara Pazova – Novi Sad section for the train speed of 200 km/h.

Along with that, in January 2019, RZD International LLC and JSC Serbian Railways Infrastructure signed a contract, which includes the Integrated Traffic Control Center creation in the Republic of Serbia. The Document also stipulates construction works and procurement of materials in terms of the second stage of reconstruction, modernization and construction of the double-track railway for the speed of 200 km/h of the 40,44 km long Stara Pazova – Novi Sad section of the Belgrade – Budapest railway line. Besides, in compliance with another article of the document RZD International will draft a project of reconstruction and modernization of the 210 km long railway line connecting Valjevo – Vrbnica – frontier with Montenegro, aiming at its further implementation.