SLOVAK infrastructure manager ŽSR has presented the results of a feasibility study of the high-speed infrastructure required under the VRT V4 project to connect Slovakia with the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Austria. The preferred option is a two-stage programme costing €3.1bn that combines work to increase capacity in Bratislava with new lines to the Czech and Austrian borders.
This is the conservative scenario examined by the study, based on making the maximum use of existing infrastructure in Bratislava. Two development scenarios were also considered, based on the construction of new lines for operation at up 160-200km/h and new crossings of the River Danube and the Little Carpathian mountain range. ŽSR says that the development scenarios were not recommended for further consideration due to environmental constraints, difficult terrain and unfavourable cost:benefit ratios.
Stage 1 of the preferred option would from run from 2030 to 2040. Its main components are:
- a new line from Lamač to a new station at Bratislava West, near Stupava, and then to Zohor on the existing line to the Czech border, running parallel to the D2 motorway and designed for operation at up to 160km/h
- widening to four tracks the line between Bratislava main station and Lamač, with a grade-separated branch towards Bratislava West including a double-track tunnel
- increasing capacity at Bratislava main station by moving fleet maintenance and stabling facilities to Bratislava West, which will become the main domestic station as well as being served by high-speed trains, and
- track renewals at Bratislava main station to increase the maximum speed from 30km/h to 50km/h, and extending freight loops to accommodate trains up to 750m in length.
Stage 2 is due for completion in 2046-50. It comprises:
- a new high-speed line from Bratislava West to the border with the Czech Republic, designed for operation at up to 320km/h, and
- a new line running from Marchegg on the Austrain border across the River Morava to Bratislava West, enabling high-speed trains to then proceed northwards to the Czech border and Brno.
Construction of new lines and upgrading existing infrastructure is expected to cut the journey time from Bratislava to Brno to 46 minutes, and the journey time to Budapest to 1h 42min. ŽSR says that the total project cost of €3.1bn does not include preparatory work or property acquisition.
“Slovakia currently has a unique chance to join projects in neighbouring countries and put itself on the map of the high-speed network of European TEN-T lines,” says ŽSR director general, Miroslav Garaj.
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