OREANDA-NEWS. JSC STROY-TREST, a general contractor, has commissioned a 2,465 meter-long Mansky Railway Tunnel in the Krasnoyarsk Region.

During the opening ceremony, the contractor's representatives handed over a symbolic key to the finished tunnel to Vladimir Yakunin, President of JSC RZD.

Vladimir Yakunin said, "The opening of the Mansky Tunnel in the Krasnoyarsk Region is an event of a huge importance. We are looking forward to an increase in freight traffic, which is why we have to develop the infrastructure of the country railways in the East. In this perspective, the Mansky Tunnel is one of the most important projects, part of the upgrading of the routes in the region."

The southbound leg of the Krasnoyarsk Railway is a backup of the Transsib; it services the Krasnoyarsk Region, Khakassia, Kemerovo and Irkutsk Regions carrying local traffic. The increase in the freight traffic has been restricted by an obsolete infrastructure of the Abakan - Taishet section, which was built in the 1960s.

The Mansky Tunnel is the second tunnel of the Krasnoyarsk Railway and the third tunnel in Russia that was driven using a tunnel-boring machine. The Lovat-375 Tunnel-Boring Machine that was used here has a cutting diameter of 9.5 meters.

Non-ballasted continuous-welded rail tracks were installed in the new tunnel on compact reinforced concrete frames supported by rubber mats. This technology significantly reduces vibrations and allows the train speed to be increased from 25 to 60 km/hr. The materials used for waterproofing and lining have a warranted tunnel life of about 100 years.

The SK MOST Group of Companies works on several projects within the Abakan - Taishet section of the Krasnoyarsk Railway. New 2,253.6-meter-long Krolsky Tunnel was commissioned in 2011. A second Dzhebsky Tunnel, which is 660.8 meter long, is under reconstruction.