Koper-Divača railway: €73 million from the EIB

TRIESTE – Slovenian company 2TDK (the project manager) has received from the European Investment Bank a second €73 million tranche of financing for the second-track rail project between Koper and Divača, a strategic infrastructure scheme for links between the port of Koper and central Europe.

The EIB is one of the project’s main financial partners. The European institution often cites the scheme as an example of sound management of major public infrastructure, highlighting the role the new railway line will play in strengthening the region’s logistics connections.

The new loan tranche will allow works along the route to continue without interruption, contributing to the delivery of one of the most significant rail projects for Slovenia since independence. The scheme is designed to boost rail capacity between the port of Koper and the European network, easing bottlenecks along the corridor linking the Adriatic with Austria, Hungary and other central European markets.

The new railway line extends for around 27 kilometres along an entirely new alignment, designed to overcome the limits of the current single-track line. The route crosses the Slovenian Karst and includes a major share of underground works: seven tunnels and three viaducts have been built along the line, underscoring the engineering complexity of the project.
In recent weeks the scheme has recorded several important operational milestones. In recent days, a test train ran along the new route, marking a symbolic moment in the project’s progress. The test confirmed the possibility of running trains on the new infrastructure, a necessary step before the next phases of testing and commissioning.

The doubling of the connection is expected to have a direct impact on traffic at the port of Koper, which in recent years has recorded significant growth especially in the container and automotive segments. The current rail link has long represented one of the port’s main development constraints, as the existing line is characterised by steep gradients and limited capacity.