RF President Vladimir Putin has announced the start of train movement in the new Kerak tunnel on the TransSiberial Railway in Amur region, 1520 Group said in a statement. The tunnel was built by Bamstroymekhanisatsiya, part of 1520 Group, incorporated in NatsProektStroy, and SpetsCityStroy.
With a length of 926 meters, the new Kerak tunnel is the longest tunnel of the Zabaikalskaya Railway. It has replaced the old tunnel which after 113 years in service does not comply with the current safety and capacity standards.
The new Kerak tunnel will allow of increasing the performance of the Kovali – Ulruchyi section of the TransSiberian to 153 pairs of trains daily. In the old tunnel, trains had to slow their speed from 60 to 40 kilometers per hour while in the new tunnel they can run at 80 kilometers per hour.
The new tunnel is built 25 meters off the old tunnel. The tunneling took 11 months to complete. State of the art monitoring systems have been installed in the tunnel, with more than 700 sensors controlling temperature, humidity, fire safety and lighting.
At present, Bamstroymekhanisatsiya has started the modernization of the old Kerak tunnel, which will be used as an auxiliary to serve the new tunnel.
Photo: courtesy of 1520 Group