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

The Beskydy Tunnel () is a railway tunnel of the

Lviv Railways Lviv Railways (abbreviated as LR) () is a territorial branch company of Ukrzaliznytsia headquartered in Lviv. General description Lviv Railways administers all railroads of Lviv Oblast, Zakarpattia Oblast, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Chernivtsi Obl ...

between the towns of Beskid and Skotarske and passes through the

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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

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in western Ukraine to cities such as

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and

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in northern

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, as well as various other locations along the route in

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and

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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 The new Austrian tunneling method (NATM), also known as the sequential excavation method (SEM) or sprayed concrete lining method (SCL), is a method of modern tunnel design and construction employing sophisticated monitoring to optimize various wa ...

. Breakthrough was achieved in January 2016 and it was inaugurated in a ceremony by

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Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

in late May 2018."Ukraine launches Beskyd railway tunnel."
''railway-technology.com'', 25 May 2018. The new tunnel has a length of 1,822 m and is covered by up to 180 m of rock. The internal dimensions of 8.5 m height and 10.5 m 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

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, and it will reduce journey times between Lviv and Ukrainian border town Chop, in a bid to facilitate exports of domestic products to neighbouring countries. The project was financed by the

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(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

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, 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, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. 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)

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. (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