Kaunas railway tunnel () is one of the two railway tunnels existing in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

and the only railway tunnel operating in the

Baltic states The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

. Passenger trains are operating between

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

and

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

through this tunnel. The length of the tunnel is 1,285 metres (0,803 miles), height – 6,6 metres, width – 8,8 metres. Kaunas railway tunnel was included into the Registry of Immovable Cultural Heritage Sites of the Republic of Lithuania in 1996.

Background

After the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

lost the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

, the importance of tactical use of modern inventions, such as

railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...

was realised. In February 1851 the Tsarist Government of Russia made a decision to build the Saint Petersburg – Warsaw railway line with a length of approximately 1,250 kilometres. It was built in Russian gauge. Starting from 1858 the Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railway line connecting

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

was being built quite intensively. The government of Prussia addressed Russia asking permission to start building a railway from Virbalis, which was situated near its border, towards Lentvaris through Kaunas. However, the terrain around Kaunas' centre is hilly and unfavorable for the direct rail passage. The main and most complicated objects were the tunnel and largest in Lithuania railway

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

over the Nemunas river. The construction of the tunnel started on 15 May 1859, whereas the construction of the bridge started a bit earlier – at the end of April, 1859. The railway from Virbalis to Kaunas was also being built.

Construction

Kaunas railway tunnel was built from 1859 till 1861. The construction was surveyed by the French engineer G. F. Perrot, as well as Polish-Lithuanian engineer

Stanisław Kierbedź Stanisław Kierbedź (, 1810–1899) was a Polish railway engineer. He designed and supervised the construction of dozens of bridges, railway lines, ports and other objects in Central and Eastern Europe. He served in the Imperial Russian Army with ...

. For construction works has been hired '' Ernest Goüin et Cie.'' company from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The tunnel was dug from both sides in a 30-metre-high hill, under the residential area of Šančiai of Kaunas. The tunnel's diameter has the shape of a

horseshoe A horseshoe is a product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human toenail, altho ...

. The upper part was made of bricks (stonework),the lower part, which is used as a basement, is made of

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

stones.
Lithuanian Railways. The History of the Tunnel. Retrieved on 12 May 2010. Seven pits were built at the time of construction of tunnel. Through them the steam machines could eliminate the excavated soil. ''Ernest Goüin et Cie'' also built two brickyards in Šančiai and

Petrašiūnai Petrašiūnai is a neighborhood in the eastern part of the Lithuanian city of Kaunas. Part of larger Petrašiūnai elderate which also consists with Amaliai, Palemonas and Naujasodis neighorhoods. In 2006 it occupied about 28.46 km², with ...

areas, because especially good quality bricks were needed for the tunnel arches, water passes and other constructions. The summer of 1860 was rainy, therefore many produced bricks were found to be defective. In order to proceed with the construction, the bricks were bought and delivered from the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The construction of the tunnel was finished on 15 November 1861. The exploitation of the railway bridge over the Nemunas river started on 4 February 1862. The tunnel started operating in spring, 1862.

Operation history

The tunnel was opened for traffic in 1862. It was on the Lentvaris - Kaunas - Virbalis branch towards

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, of the

railway. The tunnel's gauge was rebuilt to

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

by the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The Kaunas tunnel was bombed by the retreating armed forces of

on 30 July 1944. The biggest explosion deformed a 100-metre-long section of the tunnel. The

Soviet army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

rebuilt the tunnel in 1,5 months later in 1944. The explosions changed the hydrological condition of the tunnel. Water began to deform the tunnel in 1947-1948. Minor reconstruction was carried out in 1949. A train accident occurred in the tunnel in 1963. It was determined to leave one rail track, instead of two in 1964. Passenger locomotives were completely replaced by electric locomotives in 1975. As the last repairs on the tunnel had only been made in 1972, railway traffic was not safe due to the existing emergency state of the tunnel, thus, the speed of the traffic was limited to 40 km/h. In 2002−2003 the Danish company ''Niras'' made adjustments to the feasibility study, and an application for

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

assistance was made in accordance with the conclusions drawn by this company. The tunnel reconstruction project was launched in 2007.
For the Cultural Heritage Object – the Light at the End of a Tunnel. Retrieved on 12 May 2010. The tunnel was reconstructed between 2008 and 2009. It was closed to rail traffic on 1 February 2008 and passenger traffic from Vilnius direction through Kaunas was diverted from central Kaunas Railway Station to a small station in

Reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

was installed in its vaults and walls, its portals were rebuilt, and its

drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils can prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditions that harm root gro ...

was improved. The reconstruction also included installing lighting in the tunnel, the provision of smoke and water sensors along with a fire alarm system connected to the central control unit. The powerful fire extinguishing system was installed during the reconstruction of the tunnel. The pipes built underneath the tunnel are immediately filled with 35 cubic metres of water which is then sprayed via special sprinklers that line the tunnel. It is complemented by an efficient hazard monitoring system. The new communication system makes it possible to call for help in case of an emergency. The tunnel was opened after major reconstruction on 17 November 2009. After the reconstruction, the

speed limit Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed, express ...

of the traffic in Kaunas tunnel has been increased to 83 km/h.
Fima's Engineering Solutions Make Kaunas Tunnel Safer. Retrieved on 13 May 2010.

References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Kaunas Railway tunnels in Lithuania Transport in Kaunas Tunnels completed in 1862 1862 establishments in the Russian Empire