Ukraine-Kamianka-Buzka-Skole-Volovets Railroad-29

The Beskydy Tunnel ( uk, Бескидський тунель) is a railway tunnel of the Lviv Railways between the towns of Beskid and Skotarske and passes through the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

under the Volovets Pass. As the second-longest tunnel in the Ukrainian rail network, it is part of Europe's Corridor V (Italy-Slovenia-Hungary-Slovakia-Ukraine), thus linking Lviv in western Ukraine to cities such as

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and Trieste in northern Italy, as well as various other locations along the route in Slovenia and Hungary.

History

The first Beskydy Tunnel, built in 1886, was long. In time, its capacity no longer met increasing demand, thus it was decided to make a new bore parallel to the existing one. Discussions began in 1998 and construction started in 2014, using the New Austrian Tunneling Method. Breakthrough was achieved in January 2016 and it was inaugurated in a ceremony by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in late May 2018."Ukraine launches Beskyd railway tunnel."
''railway-technology.com'', 25 May 2018. The new tunnel has a length of 1,822 meters and is covered by up to 180 meters of rock. The internal dimensions of 8.5 meters height and 10.5 meters width allows for a double track railway to be accommodated. The two tubes are connected by three lugs, while the old tunnel is being used as a rescue route for the new one. The maximum speed was increased from 40 km/h to 70 km/h. As a result, the tunnel can now handle 50 to 100 trains daily, nearly 60% of all rail traffic between Ukraine and the European Union, and it will reduce journey times between Lviv and Ukrainian border town

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, in a bid to facilitate exports of domestic products to neighbouring countries. The project was financed by the

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international financial institution founded in 1991. As a multilateral developmental investment bank, the EBRD uses investment as a tool to build market economies. Initially focus ...

(EBRD) and the

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(EIB); the EBRD invested $40 million, while the EIB contributed €55 million ($64.5 million) for construction. In addition to providing financing, technical expertise was bought in from the EU, especially from Austria, to support the development of the tunnel. The construction process reportedly required 130,000 tonnes of concrete and 8,000 tonnes of steel. 2018 Ukraine Stamp 11

2022 Russian attack

On the night of 1-2 June 2022, Russia targeted a section of the tunnel with at least two Kalibr cruise missiles to disrupt weapon and fuel supplies from the West to Ukraine during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. The attack was confirmed by governor of Lviv Oblast Maksym Kozytskyy.

References

External links

Beskidy tunnel – from idea to realization (Бескидський тунель - від ідеї до втілення)
Lviv Railways on YouTube. (concept video) {{coord, 48, 45, 39, N, 23, 19, 27, E, type:landmark_region:UA, display=title, name=divide site Railway tunnels in Ukraine Rail transport in Zakarpattia Oblast Rail transport in Lviv Oblast Tunnels completed in 1886 Tunnels in Zakarpattia Oblast Tunnels in Lviv Oblast 1886 establishments in Austria-Hungary Establishments in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria