Belgrade railway junction
In the railway junction of Belgrade (kyrill. Београдски железнички чвор , Serb. Beogradski železnički čvor ), a fundamental restructuring of the route network has been taking place since 1972. The aim here is to defuse the previous bottleneck that the Serbian capital, Belgrade, represented in the rail network. Most of this project has been implemented. The station called Beograd Centar / Prokop , one of two centrally located transfer stations envisaged in the project, fully took over its function as the city's main train station on July 1, 2018, but without being structurally completed.
General
When the country's main thoroughfares were being redesigned in what was then Yugoslavia , the intention was to defuse the Belgrade bottleneck by creating a system that would cross the entire urban area and cross the city center through a tunnel, with two central train stations to the left and right of the Sava and a bypass for goods traffic. The scheme of the complete double-track expansion of the node with the two main stations Beograd Centar and Novi Beograd as well as three marshalling yards is intended to enable high-capacity, separate operation without interference from other modes of transport. The railway junction will also be served by the Beovoz S-Bahn trains in local urban transport and, together with the planned Belgrade Metro, will form the backbone of the city's rail-bound public transport.
In order to completely replace the railway tracks and structures from the 19th century with the historic terminus, a technically and financially complex solution was chosen. For example, the track systems for passenger traffic were relocated in tunnels crossing the city area as well as on dams and numerous viaducts and a new central through station was built. Freight traffic is also routed around the city area, for which two new railway bridges over the Danube and Sava were necessary.
The further expansion of this central node in the railway corridor X in the system of Železnice Srbije and at the same time the most important rail traffic node in the region and Southeastern Europe is to take place as a high-speed line .
To date (as of September 2009) 900 million euros have been invested in the Belgrade railway junction, 100 million of which went to the construction of the Belgrade Center station .
concept
The Belgrade railway junction connects seven main international lines and is designed for high capacity, which provides for a complete separation of freight and passenger traffic. The rail project includes in particular the integration of long-distance, regional and local rail traffic, a central automated shunting and container yard, a locomotive depot and several passenger stations that can be served by high-speed lines.
The complex includes a total of 15 train stations, a container terminal ( Makiš ) and two smaller marshalling yards ( Karaburma and Zemun teretna ) for international freight transport. In the automated shunting station Makiš , handling capacities of up to 600 wagons per day are possible. The terminal is connected to Prokop via a tunnel and to Surčin Airport via the Savebrücke and with 120 tracks it is also the largest marshalling yard in the region and one of the most modern in Europe.
The 15 km long tunnels running under the urban area ( Vračar tunnel , 3225 m, with the underground train station Vukov spomenik, Dedinje tunnel , 6160 m) enable a double-track fast connection of the line between the train stations Zemun , Novi Beograd , Beograd Centar ( Prokop) and Rakovica from three directions in the rail corridor X . The Topčider station , Beograd Dunav station and the old central station are not connected to the new Belgrade railway junction .
The central stations Novi Beograd and Prokop (or Beograd Centar ) serve the long-distance traffic to Zagreb (Munich), Niš (Sofia), Budapest (Vienna) and Thessaloniki and in this function are the central train stations of New and Old Belgrade as well as the high-speed rail traffic in Corridor X. The Vukov Spomenik , Prokop and Novi Beograd train stations will be connected to the Belgrade Metro, which is currently being planned.
The old terminus station occupied 85 hectares in the city center. Part of this area was freed up by the renovation work and can now be built on for other purposes. A shopping center Belgrade Waterfront is planned , which is being built by Arab investors.
construction
The construction of the railway junction was carried out under the leadership of civil engineers Savo Janjić and Dušan Nikolić from the Institute of Transport CIP . The Republic of Serbia, the City of Belgrade and Železnice Srbije are responsible for financing.
When the construction of the new Belgrade railway bridge over the Sava began in 1974, work began on the tunnels running under the city (first Vračar and Dedinje , later Rakovica and Karaburma ). The underground station Vukov spomenik was established as part of the Vračar tunnel . The 6,160 m long Dedinje tunnel consists of two parallel, single-track tubes and at one point has a double-track section with a 160 m long fork that crosses on two levels. The Rakovica Tunnel is 535 m long and the Vračar Tunnel is 3,225 m long. A total of 19,744 m single-track tunnels, 4,431 m double-track tunnels and a 200 m long section with several tracks (Dedinje tunnel) were built. 36 concrete railway bridges, 12 single-track steel bridges and 6 double-track bridges were built at the node.
Thanks to the complex construction, rail traffic can be handled in three directions without the trains hindering each other, and the underground station Vukov spomenik has a central connection to the city center of Belgrade.
With the full commissioning of the Belgrade Center (Prokop) station on July 1, 2018, the Belgrade railway junction is now completely completed.
Technical specifications
- Total length: 60 km
- including above-ground transport links: 35.8 km
- Underground tunnels: 15 miles
- of which in mining construction: 24.2 km
- Number of stations: 20 pieces
- of which completely underground: 2 pieces
- Minimum length of stations: 225 m (minimum)
- Maximum speed: 120 km / h
- Standard speed: 60 km / h
- Interval per station: fifteen minutes (2 minutes technically possible)
planning
The idea of reorganizing the railway infrastructure in Belgrade came up as early as 1922. Between the two world wars, six proposals for a new location for the main train station were worked out, which were followed by further considerations after the Second World War. In 1968 the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) under the direction of Branko Žeželj prepared a binding study, whereby the variant with the central station Prokop was positively evaluated by both the Commission for Urban Planning and the Commission of the Urban Institute. The city of Belgrade then unanimously adopted it at the meeting on March 11, 1971. Construction work officially started in 1974.
In 1977, construction began on the heart of the system, the Prokop station with six island platforms and an entrance hall intended as a landmark. Work has been delayed since the 1990s due to high costs and political and economic uncertainties. The Novi Beograd , Zemun and Rakovica train stations are also integral parts of the complex .
The new railway bridge was opened in 1978. With the completion of the Vukov spomenik station at a depth of 43 meters and the Karaburma tunnel, the system has been practically usable since 1998. In addition, an electronic control center was set up for the rail junction in Topčider. While the old main train station continues to handle national and international traffic, the new railway junction has so far mainly served the local Beovoz S-Bahn traffic in Belgrade.
The official opening of the Vukov Spomenik station took place on July 7, 1995 by the then President of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milošević . In the presence of Milošević and the leadership of the ruling parties of the SPS and the Yugoslav Left JUL , the further construction of the central Prokop train station was initiated on July 7, 1996 , which as a future-oriented project of the SPS largely dominated media interest. Due to the propaganda staging of both events and the perception as a “megalomaniac” party project, the railway junction met with strong rejection from the opposition groups. Other projects marketed as propaganda during this period were Europolis and the idea of integrating high-speed lines ( Brze pruge Srbije ) into Serbia's rail traffic.
After the war in Kosovo and the Serbian revolution on October 5, 2000, the project lacked the supporters to continue building it. Work was suspended between 1999 and 2008. At that time around 90% of the structure was complete. The maintenance of the half-finished building shell caused costs.
After several unsuccessful attempts between 2002 and 2007 to set up private financing for the further construction, the Železnice Srbije reached an agreement with the construction company Energoprojekt on March 24, 2008 on the completion of the Prokop station. The contract provides for a commercially usable lobby above the railroad tracks that is privately owned. The protocol for the completion of Prokop was signed by the Serbian government on October 17th, 2008 after some changes.
Construction work on the central station resumed in December 2008. At this point in time, the 100 × 400 m concrete slab that covers the railroad tracks and platforms, as well as two tracks and two platforms that were opened to traffic, were completed. In addition to the 100 million euros previously spent on the station, 230 million euros were made available for the completion of Prokop .
From January 26, 2016, rail traffic was gradually relocated from the old Beograd-Glavna station to the new Beograd Centar station. Long-distance traffic was handled via the old main station until June 30, 2018, which was shut down with the takeover of long-distance traffic by the new central station on July 1, 2018.
Goals and benefits
High speed traffic
A major goal of the project is the creation of a continuous route for high-speed long-distance traffic in railway corridor X. On the one hand, there is the railway axis in TEN project No. 22 Athens - Sofia - Budapest - Vienna - Prague - Nuremberg / Dresden , for others around the south-east axis of the multimodal connection Salzburg - Ljubljana - Zagreb / Budapest - Belgrade - Niš , including the connections Sofia - Istanbul - Ankara - Georgia / Armenia - Azerbaijan , " TRACECA " and Skopje - Thessaloniki . Possible extensions are the so-called Magistrale for Europe , which provides for high-speed traffic from Paris to Budapest, and the extension of the Railjet to Ljubljana and Zagreb.
Local transport
The development of the Beovoz municipal railway , which will play a central role in local public transport in the future, is based on the planning of a central through station .
Connection to the airport
Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport is to be connected to regional traffic in the future as part of an expansion of the Beovoz. At the moment, no intermodal linking of the modes of transport is possible here. In the official urban planning master plan until 2021, an underground Beovoz connection to the city center is planned for the airport.
Operational aspects
The planned entry speeds in the Prokop through station can be up to 80 km / h. Many access routes to the terminus station could only be approached at a maximum of 10 km / h due to neglected maintenance.
Summary
- Relief of the city center from the railway infrastructure.
- Shortening travel times.
- Separation of freight and passenger traffic.
- Long-distance trains running through Belgrade can stop at several stations and still cross the city in a straight line (without turning around and crossing oncoming trains).
- Every long-distance train will also stop at the new main station, so that you can always change from any line to any other (even if express trains only stop at one station in the city).
- Long-distance and regional traffic are linked at the main train station (and the other long-distance train stations).
criticism
The main criticism of the concept from the start was its high costs. They were also a reason for the long construction times. In addition, there were additional costs for the state and city for the maintenance of the old main station parallel to the partially completed infrastructure structures of the new railway junction.
The relocation of the railway infrastructure of the main train station to the south of Belgrade, where the Prokop station is located right between the upscale residential area of Dedinje and the already inner-city district of Vracar, also requires high investments in adequate transport infrastructure integration of the city quarters. There are numerous simple single-family houses here; a socially acceptable urban development solution in the area around the station is considered desirable.
Another major point of criticism is the relative distance of the new Belgrade Central Station to the actual city center and its lack of transport links to the public transport system and to road traffic. Many experts therefore consider the location of the main train station in Prokop to be questionable and recommend making the Novi Belgrade station to the main train station. Since an intact local and long-distance transport infrastructure already exists at the Novi Belgrade station and the bus station is to be relocated here, the station will take over the function of the city's central transport hub anyway, which the Prokop station cannot fulfill.
See also
- Marmaray - Construction of the railway tunnel between Europe and Asia in Istanbul .
- Mushroom concept - construction of a north-south tunnel for the long-distance railway and the new Berlin central station .
- Stuttgart 21 - a through station is also planned there, which can be reached by tunnel.
- City-Tunnel Leipzig - similar concept, but without a long-distance railway.
- Vienna Central Station - here, too, two terminal stations will be replaced by a through station.
- Munich 21 - Deutsche Bahn project to replace the terminus of Munich Central Station with a through station underground.
- Nové spojení - project to connect different long-distance train stations in Prague more effectively.
- RheinMain plus - project to expand the rail transport infrastructure in the Frankfurt am Main area .
Web links
- Official site of the Belgrade railway junction and related infrastructure Beogradčvor
- Conceptual and executive plans of the transport institute CIP Beogradski železnički čvor
- Video on the concept of the Belgrade railway junction Project video Beogradski železnički čvor
- Video about the Beograd Centar train station and the planned metro station Project video Železnička stanica Beograd Centar
- Master plan for Corridor X of the Serbian Ministry of Infrastructure (in Serbian) (PDF file; 5.07 MB)
- Government of Serbia on the investments and plans in Corridor X
Footnotes
- ↑ Olli Rehn , February 2, 2009 in the European Parliament. Olli Rehn's answer to the subject: Persistence of poor transfer connections for passengers in the Belgrade railway junction between trains from numerous European countries
- ↑ Vecernje novosti, 26. September 2009. Cela vlada brani koridor
- ↑ Energoprojekt, References Infrastructure Vračar ( Memento of the original from March 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Inženjerska komora Srbije, Glasnik 4 - Zorica Slavković-Marjanović - Od koncepcije do realizacije - duga pruga Prokop - dugogodišnje analize, studije i rad na izboru optimalnog rešenja
- ↑ Energoprojekt, References Infrastructure Vukov Spomenik underground railway station
- ↑ Biznis online magazine, November 4, 2008 Ministar za inf Infrastrukturu u intervjuu za Biznis; Milutin Mrkonjić: Nema recesije za Koridor 10 ( Memento of the original from January 3, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ NIN 2376, July 11, 1996 Od Prilika do Prokopa
- ↑ Government of Serbia, Project 18 (21 projects for the 21st century) EUROPOLIS The Center of Business in the Balkans ( Memento of the original from January 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Government of Serbia, Project 7 (21 projects for the 21st century) Belgrade Railway Junction ( Memento of the original from January 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ B92, February 13, 2003 Brze pruge Srbije ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Government of Serbia High Speed Railway ( Memento of the original from January 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ NIN 2709, November 28, 2002 Vreme za Metro
- ↑ Železnice Srbije, March 24, 2008 "Železnice Srbije" i "Energoprojekt" potpisali Ugovor o izgradnji železničke stanice u Prokopu ( Memento of the original from December 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Politika, August 26, 2008 Neimare očekuje vruća jesen
- ↑ Železnice Srbije, October 17, 2008 Protocol about continuation of construction of railway station Belgrade Center-Prokop was signed ( Memento of the original from December 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Blic December 4, 2008 Neizvesna izgradnja stanice "Prokop" - Rokove svi zaboravili ( Memento of the original from December 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Danas, August 18, 2008 Kako završiti Železničku stanicu Prokop u Beogradu? ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Blic, August 31, 2008 Posle trideset godina “radova” i 100 miliona potrošenih evra. Sa stanice "Prokop" za 36 meseci? ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Energoprojekt, Main current projects Central railway terminal Prokop and 120,000 m² office complex
- ↑ Đorđe Bobić U Beogradu je nađena neka železnica sa stanicama ... ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
