Increasing speed and safety is general trend which all railways in the developed world follow, Transport Minister Árpád Érsek said on February 27 when ceremonially opening the upgraded section of the Považská Teplá – Žilina railway track.
“Thus we are all doing our best to gradually modernise all railway tracks in Slovakia,” he noted, as cited by the TASR newswire. “Slovak citizens have found out that if the rail transport is fast, clean and on time, they are willing to switch from cars to trains.”
The minister added that he supports this idea, since this is a more environmentally-friendly and less demanding way for drivers and passengers. The minister would also like to connect all of Slovakia through safe trains riding at higher speeds.
The section saves time
The section between Považská Teplá and Žilina, almost 23 kilometres long, has been financed from two operational programmes: Transport and Integrated Infrastructure. The total value amounts to almost €153.4 million, and it was made by the TEBS association, led by the TSS GRADE company. The section consists of six new railway- and five road bridges, nine underpasses and nine renovated railway bridges.
The newly opened section will offer a time-saving of about two minutes, reported Filip Hlubocký, CEO of the state-run passenger carrier Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko (ZSSK).
“After the entire section from Bratislava to Žilina is finished by 2020, the time-saving will be 16 minutes," Hlubocký said, as quoted by TASR.
The current reduction of two minutes will appear in the timetable from the end of March, Hlubocký added.
