A new rail track under construction between the port of Koper and the Divača junction inland will in the future be expanded into a double-track railway. The government endorsed the plan on 24 January, two weeks after releasing a new cost estimate and completion date of the first track.

The new rail track between Koper and Divača is now slated for completion in mid-2026, half a year later than in the the existing investment plan. It is still expected to become operational in 2026.

The new cost estimate of the investment is €1.027 billion at current prices, up by 9% on the previous estimate, under an amended investment plan under discussion by the government.

The track runs 27 kilometres in length but includes more than 37 kilometres of tunnels. It is being built by the Slovenian company Kolektor CPG and its Turkish partners Yapi Merkezi and Özaltin.

Taking a completely new route to the existing railway between Koper and Divača, the new track is to increase the maximum throughput capacity from 94 to 212 trains daily and the transport capacity from the current 14 million to 36.9 million tonnes a year.

It will cut the distance compared to the existing route from 44 kilometres to 27 kilometres.

Now the government has also endorsed a plan to build a second track along the new route. The existing single-track railway will be converted to a bicycle path.

The double-track railway was one of three options put forward in a study commissioned by 2TDK, the company that manages the construction of the Divača-Koper track.

The government believes it is better than keeping the existing track, which was what the other two options envisioned.

Having a double-track railway on the new route reduces environmental risks, fire hazard and noise pollution. This option is also better economically, even as the initial cost is estimated to be slightly higher than modernising the existing track, the government said.

The decision means that a national spatial plan will now be drafted. This will serve as the basis for a construction permit.

Construction of the new track begun in May 2021, decades after the plan was first conceived and following two referendums on the issue.