On Friday, the builders completed the excavation of the 840-meter-long Mezno tunnel on the Sudoměřice-Votice line. Thanks to the reconstruction of the line, according to the Railway Administration, train travel between Prague and Tábor will be shortened. The excavation of the tunnel began last September.
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VIDEO: Breakthrough of the Mezno Tunnel | Video: Railway Administration, state organization
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The Mezno tunnel is the second tunnel built in the Sudoměřice – Votice section. The modernization also includes the Deboreč tunnel, the excavation of which the builders completed in February this year, measures 660 meters.
“This is the fourth railway corridor Prague – České Budějovice, where two key constructions are currently underway, and this is the section Sudoměřice – Votice and Soběslav – Doubí. Both of these sections will be in test operation in 2022, but testing means that people will drive here normally, “Minister of Transport Karel Havlíček told ČTK (for YES). According to him, the entire corridor will be secured by a single European ETCS system.
The tunnel was excavated by the so-called new Austrian method, which consists in the mechanical detachment of the rock and its subsequent securing by the primary lining, which activates the basic properties of the rock mass.
In addition to the two tunnels, a second track will be added to the single-track section, the construction work is to be completed in 2022. Contrary to the original assumptions, it will be extended by about a year, mainly due to the start of construction of the Mezno tunnel by large-scale blasting. Several other conditions applied to their authorization, which caused delays.
According to Havlíček, the corridor will also lack a Prague junction. “We will have a superstructure right behind České Budějovice, and that is around Ševětín, Hosín and Hluboká. Unfortunately, it is still meandering there today, we will have a number of key engineering acts, other tunnels and so on,” he said. It is not yet clear when the entire corridor will be completed.
The sections from Ševětín to Soběslav, from Doubí u Tábora to Sudoměřice, from Votice to Prague-Hostivař and also the tracks at the České Budějovice railway junction have now been completed. Work is already underway on the Prague railway junction between the station Praha-Hostivař and Vršovice. The section from Nemanice to Ševětín will come last.
The total costs for the modernization of the Sudoměřice-Votice line are CZK 6.7 billion excluding VAT. If the application from the Transport Operational Program is approved, the EU contribution can amount to up to CZK 3.96 billion.
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