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Žilina – Košice railway modernisation (160 km/h)

Modernisation of the Žilina – Košice main line (ŽSR line 180) to 160 km/h on the Rhine–Danube corridor. ŽSR runs it as separate construction projects. Three have a project page with an extent: Poprad – Lučivná (handed over in 2024), Poprad-Tatry – Vydrník (stage A1, with the Španí Háj tunnel) and Spišská Nová Ves – Spišské Tomášovce (contractor tender running). Contract prices, grant budgets and spending to date are kept as separate figures.

Total length
31 km
Open today
13 km
Sections
3
Cost on record
€385.675M
1 of 3 sections carry a comparable figure

Restated into EUR at 2025 prices.

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Sections

Sections of Žilina – Košice railway modernisation (160 km/h): status, length, dates, cost, funding and contractors
SectionsStatusLengthTimelineCostFundingContractorsContract terms
Poprad – Lučivná

Poprad – Štrba (Lučivná), 12.868 km in its current state, in three parts: Poprad – Svit, Svit station and Svit – Štrba. Works contract signed 11 June 2020 for EUR 97,482,977.95; the page gives 11 June 2020 as the start of the main project activities, so no construction start is recorded. The planned end was 7 April 2023. The project was closed by a handover protocol on 28 August 2024, recorded here as the opening date. The grant budget (EUR 97.32 million), the contract price and the EUR 124.75 million spent are different figures. The drawn line runs from the Lučivná halt to Poprad-Tatry (11.1 km measured from OpenStreetMap), about 1.8 km short of the sourced length because the end of the works west of the halt is not given.

Opened13 km
  1. Jun 11, 2020Tender awarded
  2. Aug 28, 2024Opened
  • Actual €124.75MFinancial performance at 31 December 2025 on a project page marked final: EU 77.42 M, state budget co-financing 18.05 M, other state budget expenses 22.97 M, own resources 6.31 M. VAT basis and price year not stated.
  • European UnionConnecting Europe Facility grant agreement NEA/CEF/TRAN/M2015/1138561, signed 15 and 17 November 2016: EUR 77.62 million from the EU of a EUR 97.32 million total
  • National budgetState budget share of the grant agreement: EUR 19.70 million
  • Združenie Tatry 2017 (lead member TSS GRADE)Builder
Contract value €97.48M
Poprad-Tatry – Vydrník (stage A1)

Stage A1 of the Poprad-Tatry (outside) – Krompachy project, from Poprad-Tatry to Vydrník, with the 711 m Španí Háj twin-track tunnel (692 m mined, 39 m open cut). Works contract worth almost EUR 369 million excluding VAT (EUR 368.9 million), 1,004 days from handover of the first site (contract duration converted from days: 1,004 days). ŽSR gives March 2025 as the planned start and November 2027 as the planned end of the main activities. At 31 December 2025 preparatory and construction works were running, and boring of the tunnel began on 22 July 2025. Spending to 31 December 2025 was EUR 37.42 million. The page gives no extent in kilometres. Length measured from OpenStreetMap geometry. The grant budget is not the contract price.

Under construction
34 of 33 contracted months
1 month past the contract date
13 km
  1. Dec 2023Tender awarded
  2. Nov 2027Expected opening
–
  • European UnionProgram Slovensko 2021–2027: grant agreement Z401301B315, effective 21 December 2024 (decision of 20 November 2024), EUR 438.33 million in total costs, of which EUR 372.58 million from the EU
  • National budgetState budget co-financing under the grant agreement: EUR 65.75 million
  • Združenie pod Dubinou (TSS GRADE, Doprastav)Builder
33 mo total · Contract value €368.9M
Spišská Nová Ves – Spišské Tomášovce

Modernisation of 4.9 km of double track between Spišská Nová Ves (outside the station) and the Spišské Tomášovce passing loop, with the Smižany halt, new bridges and retaining walls, and the signalling rebuild at Poprad-Tatry station. ŽSR gives January 2025 as the start of the main activities and June 2028 as the planned end. At 30 June 2026 the procurement of the works contractor was running, no contract was listed and nothing had been spent. The grant budget is not a cost. The drawn line covers the 4.9 km counted back from Spišská Nová Ves station along the existing track, because the loop's position is not given. The Spišské Tomášovce halt in OpenStreetMap lies about 1.7 km further west, so the boundary is placed by the sourced length, not at a mapped point.

Tendered5 km
  1. Jun 2028Expected opening
–
  • European UnionGrant agreement 101233060 – 24-SK-TC-MRLVSNV, signed 16 October 2025: EUR 113.95 million in total costs, of which EUR 96.86 million from the EU
  • National budgetState budget co-financing under the grant agreement: EUR 17.09 million
––

Contractor roles are as recorded in the award. Only builders count toward the delivery rankings.

Funding

  • European Union31 km
    3 sections
    • Connecting Europe Facility grant agreement NEA/CEF/TRAN/M2015/1138561, signed 15 and 17 November 2016: EUR 77.62 million from the EU of a EUR 97.32 million total
    • Program Slovensko 2021–2027: grant agreement Z401301B315, effective 21 December 2024 (decision of 20 November 2024), EUR 438.33 million in total costs, of which EUR 372.58 million from the EU
    • Grant agreement 101233060 – 24-SK-TC-MRLVSNV, signed 16 October 2025: EUR 113.95 million in total costs, of which EUR 96.86 million from the EU
  • National budget31 km
    3 sections
    • State budget share of the grant agreement: EUR 19.70 million
    • State budget co-financing under the grant agreement: EUR 65.75 million
    • State budget co-financing under the grant agreement: EUR 17.09 million

A section that lists two sources counts its full length under each: the data records which sources paid, not what share each one carried.

Related projects

Corridors

The designations this project is recorded under. Both schemes are kept: the Pan-European corridors are how these projects were described when they were planned, and TEN-T is what EU money is allocated on today.

  • TEN-T Rhine–Danube CorridorTEN-T

Sources

  1. ŽSR: Modernizácia železničnej trate Žilina – Košice, úsek Liptovský Mikuláš – Poprad Tatry (mimo), 1. etapa (Poprad – Lučivná)read Oct 10, 2026
  2. ŽSR: Modernizácia železničnej trate Žilina – Košice, úsek trate Poprad Tatry (mimo) – Krompachy, Stavba A1 Poprad Tatry (mimo) – Vydrníkread Oct 10, 2026
  3. ŽSR: Modernizácia železničnej trate Žilina - Košice, úsek Spišská Nová Ves – Spišské Tomášovceread Oct 10, 2026
  4. SITA: Železnice pokračujú v úprave tratí, podpísali zmluvu na modernizáciu úseku na severe Slovenska (23 December 2023)read Oct 10, 2026
  5. SITA: Železnice začali razenie tunela Španí Háj (22 July 2025)read Oct 10, 2026
  6. OpenStreetMap contributors: railway ways of ŽSR line 180, Žilina – Košice (geometry, ODbL)read Oct 10, 2026