OREANDA-NEWS. The opening ceremony for the renovated Podgornoe rail station was attended by the Governor of the Voronezh Region, Alexei Gordeev, the President of EUROCEMENT group, Mikhail Skorokhod, and the Director of the Southeast Railroad, Anatoly Volodko. Over 713 million rubles were invested in the project in total, of which over 431 million were contributed by EUROCEMENT group.

"This is an excellent joint project between big businesses. EUROCEMENT group and JSC Russian Railways were able to reach an agreement on joint investments in the station's renovation, which made it possible to substantially increase its cargo throughput. It was very fortunate for us that one of the largest cement plants was opened in the Podgorensky District of the Voronezh Region. Productivity tripled in the last year alone, and all this is thanks to the efforts of the cement plant. Now the railroad is ready to meet the cargo transportation needs of the enterprise," emphasized the Governor of the Voronezh Region, Alexei Gordeev.

"The station's renovation will support the shipping of up to 2 million tons of cement per year from EUROCEMENT group's new high-tech plant. The project envisages a single technical process between the plant and the Podgornoe station, which will facilitate not only the timely shipment of products, but also the smooth passage of railcars through the station. This is one of the key conditions for ensuring the uninterrupted supply of our high-quality cement to customers both within the Voronezh Region as well as in Southern Russia using optimal logistical routes and as quickly as possible," remarked the President of EUROCEMENT group, Mikhail Skorokhod.

As part of implementing the project to renovate the station, existing routes were extended and underwent major repairs, which allows trains of increased length (up to 71 cars) to be used, overhead contact lines were repaired and upgraded, and the system underwent a transition to the Ebilock-950 centralized microprocessor, which is designed to control switches and signals at the station. For the purposes of increasing energy efficiency, modern energy-saving lighting was used. To ensure the safety of pedestrians, railroad crossings were equipped with automatic alarm systems.

"The renovation of the Podgornoe rail station has allowed us to reclassify it as category II, which which will allow us to load up to 90 cars every day. The work was carried out in stages since the station is located along the main line of the Southeast highway, and traffic delays would have been unacceptable. In total, 2.6 kilometers of track and 36 turnouts were laid, 13 kilometers of overhead contact lines and carrier wires were replaced, 245 new supports were installed, and the station area was renovated," stated the Director of the Southeast Railroad, Anatoly Volodko.