Prime Minister Golob: “Slovenia is building the second and third tracks itself”

SLOVENIA, November 20 - At the ceremony, those gathered celebrated the completion of key construction projects on Section 2 – five tunnels, two viaducts and an open track – as well as the handover of works between the construction phase and the railway works phase.

The Prime Minister began by emphasising the importance of Slovenia’s strategic location, which, through the Port of Koper and Slovenian Railways, represents a window to the world for Central Europe. “At times, it seems we are not fully aware of our strategic location, but I am sure that others, especially those present in global logistics chains, are very much aware of it. That is why it is all the more important that we know how to use our position effectively,” he said.

The Prime Minister continued by saying that the second track project is of exceptional importance in exploiting our strategic location. “The second track is one of those key projects that, together with the expansion of the Port of Koper and the modernisation of the railway network, will firmly establish Slovenia as one of the leading logistics destinations in Europe for a long time,” he emphasised.

The second track project is the result of cooperation between foreign and domestic builders. The Prime Minister emphasised that this cooperation has shown how important it is to have a large and strong national Slovenian company, a group, that is capable of taking responsibility for its partners. “Congratulations to the project leaders, the Kolektor Group, not only for the work done, but also for the responsibility they have shown in this project,” the Prime Minister thanked the project leaders.

The Prime Minister also thanked the Ministry of Infrastructure, which is responsible for ensuring that the project was designed on realistic foundations and completed within the planned deadlines and within budget. “It is one of the key foundations on the basis of which Slovenia managed to obtain not only the planned financial resources and support from the European Commission, but even additional, non-planned ones. Therefore, a big thank you to the entire team at the Ministry of Infrastructure, who have demonstrated in an exemplary manner that we know how to implement the largest possible projects on time and within the allocated funds,” the Prime Minister expressed his gratitude.

The Prime Minister pointed out that Slovenia will undertake further projects using additional non-repayable European funds amounting to €156 million. “We do not want a shortage of money to cause a foreign country gaining ownership of such important infrastructure as the railway network. With this second track project, Slovenia has proven that, together with the European Commission, it can independently implement the most important and largest projects. It is precisely because of the funds that were handed over to us today that I can say that the third track, that is, the parallel track, will be built exclusively from 2TDK’s own resources,” he emphasised.

He announced that construction of the third track is expected to begin in 2027, and the project is expected to be completed by 2030. “With this project, we will fulfil two promises. The promise to all residents living along the existing line that this line will be discontinued, and the promise to our logistics industry and business world that, on this line, we will be able to transport everything that Europe expects from us and that we are very happy to do so," concluded Prime Minister Robert Golob.

The second track of the Divača-Koper Railway line is one of the most important infrastructure projects in Slovenia, with which the country aims to create new sustainable logistics connections in Europe and consolidate Slovenia’s competitiveness and geostrategic importance.

Section 2 contains two of the three second track viaducts, Gabrovica and Vinjan. In December 2023, the Prime Minister attended the ceremony marking the opening of the Gabrovica viaduct, where he emphasised that transport connections are an extremely important part of our everyday lives and economy, with the second track being the largest ever investment in the railway network of the Republic of Slovenia.

At the end of February 2024, the Prime Minister also attended the ceremonial opening of the Vinjan viaduct. On this occasion, he pointed out that rail transport is sustainable transport, which Slovenia must focus on in its plans for the future.