Subject of the activity

The EEIG railway Trieste-Divača is the coordinator of the following activities:

  • Planning and management of the project of the cross-border section of the Italian-Slovenian railway route between Trieste and Divača included in “Progetto Prioritario” (Priority Project) n. 6 of the Trans-European Transport Networks defined by the European Union, financed by Decision C(2008)7728 already modified by Decision C(2012) 9592 final of 11/12/2012 and by Decision C(2015)7014 final of 9/10/2015 of the Commission of the European Communities.
  • Upgrading of the existing railway section between Aurisina and Divača.
  • The EEIG is also identified as a coordinating body between the various interested parties for
    • promote the development of cross-border passenger traffic between Italy and Slovenia;
    • the resolution of problems related to the management of railway operations on the border sections.

In order to pursue the object of its mandate, the EEIG can prepare the applications for the co-financing tenders of the European Commission and the national tenders.

Furthermore, the EEIG carries out the function of coordinator of the members and intermediary of the members for any exchange of information and for any communication with the Commission of the European Communities.

EEIG’s activities

From 2013 to 2015 the EEIG was mainly responsible for coordinating the preliminary design of the new Trieste Divača high-speed line. The preliminary project was delivered in 2015. During this period, after intergovernmental meetings, both the Italian and Slovenian sides agreed on the lack of opportunity to continue the design phases of the new HS line due to the scarcity of existing railway traffic, but rather to develop the strengthening of the existing line (Upgrading).

The EEIG conducted and coordinated the following activities in accordance with the Deed of Incorporation and the objectives assigned to the EEIG in the framework of the 2016 Intergovernmental Conference (IGC):

  • Coordination of the design and implementation of the »Upgrading of the existing railway section between Aurisina and Divača« – Activity still ongoing and co-financed by the EU/CINEA thanks to CEF21 funds.
    • The Italian side has concluded the planning phase for the Upgrading (the EEIG has obtained resource for its coordination action from the 2016 – 2020 Agreement as a beneficiary in a grouping with the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure as responsible) and started the implementation phase (for the first phase only – New structure of the Villa Opicina station – the second phase involves the technological upgrading of the section Bivio Aurisina-Villa Opicina and the suppression of the Prosecco level crossing) – the Slovenian side is starting the design phase of the Sezana railway station and the railway section from Sezana to the state border.
  • Coordination actions between the various interested parties aimed at the development of cross-border passenger traffic between Italy and Slovenia – Reactivation of the Udine/Trieste – Ljubljana passenger service which took place in 2018 – Completed activity.
  • Coordination between the Italian and Slovenian railways for the resolution of problems related to the management of railway operations on the border sections – Commissioning of the block between Villa Opicina and Divača May 2020 and between Gorizia and Nova Gorica 2021 – Completed activity.
  • Participation in CEF calls. The EEIG, with RFI – Rete Ferroviaria Italiana SpA and the MzI – Slovenian Ministry of Infrastructure, participated and obtained the resources of the Call Cef 2021 tender for the following actions:
    • Realization of the Executive design of the Villa Opicina Station – Beneficiary RFI – Rete Ferroviaria Italiana SpA (ITA);
    • Preparation of the executive project of the Sezana station – Beneficiary MzI – Slovenian Ministry of Infrastructure(SLO);
    • Coordinator of the action, role entrusted to the EEIG.
  • Organization and facilitation of Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) meetings. To date, the Ministries of the respective countries have not yet convened a new IGC.

Status of progress of the activities

In 2022, the EEIG, with the function of coordinator, participated together with RFI – Rete Ferroviaria Italiana SpA and MZI – Slovenian Ministry of Infrastructure, as beneficiaries, in the call for tenders “CEF-T-2021-COREGEN” with the project ”Upgrading of existing railway infrastructure between Villa Opicina station and Sezana station”, resulting as the winner.

The Action of the Call CEF-T-2021-COREGEN starts from 30/05/2022 to 29/06/2026 and the planned activities are in line with the aspects of the upgrading of the existing railway section between Aurisina and Divača.

The EEIG collaborated with CINEA in order to manage and organize the methodologies for the technical and financial advancements of the Action and in the period 2022 – 2026 it will conduct the coordination activities of the entire Action for which it will receive a contribution.

Italian side:
RFI – Rete Ferroviaria Italiana SpA will commit resources for the actualization of the new Executive design and new ACC (Centralized Apparatus) of the Villa Opicina station: these interventions are functional to improve the management and operational efficiency of the border station as well as to equip the system with an essential 750 m module railroad track to be able to declare the entire corridor interoperable for trains of this length, and to speed up the itineraries.
The Italian side has concluded the design phase for the Upgrading and started the subsequent construction phase.
The delivery of the works for the new Executive design and the new ACC of Villa Opicina was carried out to the contractor MER MEC STE S.r.l. in December 2022.

Slovenian side:
MzI – Slovenian Ministry of Infrastructure will use the resources for the realization of the executive project of the Sezana station and the railway line from Sezana to the state border at Villa Opicina. The public procurement procedures for the acquisition of a design company for the preparation of the project documentation have been carried out. The contract between MZI – Slovenian Ministry of Infrastructure and the contractor SŽ Projektivno podjetje Ljubljana d.d. was signed in June 2023. The design of the Sezana railway station and the section from Sezana to the national border with Italy has begun.