Among the shortlist of 10 bidders, contracting giants from China and Turkey dominate. The 10 bidders will build a challenging railway with a cost of 1.2 billion euros in Slovenia.

Although the railway is only 27 kilometers long, 20.5 kilometers of which account for 75% of the total length will pass through 8 tunnels, 3 of which are longer than 6 kilometers. Together with service and exit tunnels, a total of 37.4 kilometers of tunnels will need to be built.

The project will add a second railway between Koper, a cargo port city in the Gulf of Trieste, and Divaca near the Italian border, which will connect to the European railway network.

The first railway was built in 1967 and has a total length of less than 46 kilometers. It requires frequent maintenance, which limits its capacity.

In January 2020, 29 teams participated in the bid for this new route. 2TDK, the company established by the Slovenian government to implement the plan, has announced its shortlist of 10 bidders.

China Communications Construction; Cengiz Insaat of Turkey; China Gezhouba Group and Ginex International Consortium of Slovenia; China Railway Group; China Construction; Consortium of Gorenjska Gradbena Druzba and Slovenian CGP and Czech Metrostav; Turkey Ic Ictas Insaat and Bosnian Euro- A consortium of Asfalt; a consortium of Kolektor in Slovenia and Yapi Merkezi Insaat and Ozaltin Insaat in Turkey; a consortium of Strabag in Austria, Ed Zublin in Germany and Gulermak in Turkey; a consortium in YDA Insaat and Unitek Insaat in Turkey.

The selection process is divided into two stages. The first stage aims to select 10 bidders based on their abilities, while the second stage (scheduled to start next month) will select the winning bidder based on the price. It is expected that the final contract will be signed before the end of 2020, with a view to starting operations in 2026, when the two lines will allow up to 231 trains per day.

In May 2020, the European Investment Bank approved a loan of up to 250 million euros for the project. Editor / Huang Lijun